The Birds uf HUhhorouyh 23 



Family STURNID.F:. 



Sturnus vulgaris Limit. Staki.in(4. 



Resident and lumieroua, l)ut beeoniing less so in the Auluinn and 

 Winter months. At this season it is probable tiiat many of our Starlings 

 betake themselves to the sea coast, for at this time countless nnmbers nvAy 

 l)e seen each evening at sunset coming in to roost on the Teciniical Institute 

 and Assembly's Buildings, Belfast. Average size of eggs 28 79 x 21 'M nun. ; 

 average weight of full eggs 7 gr., of empty shells '497 gr. 



Pastor roseus (Linn>'). Rose-colourel) Pastoi:. 



The only recorded instance of tiiis syjecies in the district is one shot 

 here in July, 1836.* 



[A GoLDKN Oiiioi.R (Oriolus oriolus [L/'/i/n') ) was said to have been 

 seen about 2 miles north of the village in September, 1911. J 



Family FRINGILLIDJ^. 



Chloris chioris (Lium). Greknfixch. 



The Greenfinch (locallj' called Green Linnet) is resident and numerous, 

 packing into large flocks in Autumn. Average size of eggs 20'13 x 13 "88 

 mm.; average weight of full eggs 1 '94 gr., of empty shells '1019 gr. 



Coccothraustes coccothraustes {Liiui^). Hawfinch. 



Thomp.son state.st that a very fine specimen was shot near Hills- 

 borough about the year 1829. One said to have been shot in Park about 

 1899. Rev. Allan Ellison, when here on a visit in July, 1905, thought he 

 detected a pair flying overhead. 



Carduelis carduelis britannica (Har/ert). Goldfinch. 



Formerly coiinnon, this bird has now become very rare. In 1901 Mr. 

 R. J. Pack Beresford released 24 birds obtained from Co. Carlow, but this 

 did not seem to have any appreciable effect on the population. In May, 

 1905, a nest of this species was found in a high beech hedge, from which 

 the young were duly reared. 



Spinus spinus {Liime). Siskin. 



Resident in the district in small numbers, but the local population is 

 augmented in Winter by flocks of migratory birds. The nests, so far as 

 discovered, are always placed far out on a brancli of Douglas Spruce and 

 at a high elevation. 



Passer domesticus {Linm). Housk-Sparrow. 



Resident and abundant. As obtains elsewhere, the nests are of two 

 kinds (a) a domed structure among the finer branches of the upper part of 

 a tree, or (h) a cup-shaped nest in a hole in a tree or building or in the 

 thatch of houses. Average size of eggs 21 '22 x 15 '02 mm.; average 

 weight of full eggs 2"635 gr. , of empty shells '1712 gp. 



* Nat. Hist, of Ireland, Vol. I, p. 296. 

 t Nat. Hist, of Ireland, Vol. I, p. 259. 



