44 Vertebrate Fauna of Ulster. 



local zoology, with a view to the compilation and publication 

 of a reliable work on the subject. This can only be done by 

 obtaining the assistance and support of all those who are in- 

 terested in local natural history, or whose place of abode or 

 occupations afford them opportunities for the study of the Fauna 

 of their districts. A preliminary circular has been issued and 

 widely distributed over the province, and already the Secretaries 

 have received offers of assistance from many quarters ; and the 

 scheme has already been courteously noticed by the local Press. 

 Mr. Praeger continued : — 



Should our scheme meet with the support which we trust it 

 shall find, and which we believe it merits, it is expected that 

 in a few years' time sufficient authentic material may have 

 been collected to warrant publication, and we shall then have 

 a reliable treatise on the Vertebrate Fauna of Ulster, dealing 

 with the birds, quadrupeds, fishes, bats, cetacea, reptiles, and 

 amphibians of our province, with notes on their distribution, 

 habits, and history, and treating especially of such points of 

 Irish zoology as are still involved in obscurity. To bring this 

 proposed work before the Society, and before the public, is the 

 object of the present paper; and the Secretaries now appeal, 

 not only to the members and their friends present, but to all 

 whom they may reach through the medium of the Press, and 

 to all who love science for its own sake and take an interest 

 in the natural history of their native country, to assist them in 

 this work, the successful accomplishment of which will, they 

 believe, be for the advancement of science, the benefit of Irish 

 zoology, and the honour of the Belfast Natural History and 

 Philosophical Society. 



The paper was spoken to in terms of cordial approval and 

 endorsement of the objects and aims of the Ulster Fauna 

 Committee by Professor Cunningham, Professor Letts, Robert 

 Patterson, Esq., Rev. Canon Grainger and the President. 



The lecture was illustrated by rare ornithological specimens, 

 and a Mus Hibernicus, or Irish rat, which was pointed out as 

 being extremely scarce. 



