20 



who was selling ducks. He had seen in the Field that an eider 

 duck was recently found near Norwich, twenty miles from the 

 sea coast. The next of the rare birds to which he would call 

 attention was the scoter duck, which is also a true sea bird. 

 The seventh of the rare birds is the ruff. It is a very 

 strange-looking bird in its summer plumage, a curious frill 

 appearing along its neck, which it can puff out to a 

 surprising extent. It, too, is confined to the autumnal migra- 

 tion. The only specimen he ever saw was one in a market in 

 Dublin. Two of these birds were shot near Lough Neagh. 

 The ruff belongs to the eastern districts of England, but the 

 species is rapidly disappearing there, owing to the reclamation 

 of the marshes which it frequents. He regarded it as an 

 interesting addition to the birds of the County Armagh. 

 Having gone over the list of rare birds which had occurred 

 at Lough Neagh within a very recent period, covering about 

 seven years, at the rate of one each year, he would now refer 

 to some birds that are disappearing from the Lough and the 

 district about it. Among these are the grey-crested grebe, a 

 most beautiful water fowl ; the yellow wagtail, a bird peculiar 

 to Lough Neagh ; and the quail, formerly very abundant in 

 Ireland. One of the most characteristic qualities of the quail is 

 its fighting capabilities. At the same time, there are 

 some species of birds which are on the increase. One of 

 these is the water-rail, which is quite as valuable for the 

 table as snipe. 



The President, when inviting members of the Society who 

 took a special interest in this subject, made some remarks, and 

 described the statement of Mr. Robinson as very interesting 

 indeed. He was surprised to hear that the yellow wagtail had 

 so restricted a distribution. With regard to the grey-crested 

 grebe, perhaps its most remarkable characteristic is the peculiar 

 formation of the patella, which extends considerably upwards 

 above the knee-joints. 



Rev. Mr. Robinson asked permission to interrupt the President 

 in order to state that he sent a grebe to Dr. Haughton, of Dub- 

 lin, which died shortly afterwards, and was dissected. Dr. 



