152 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



had only a large rifle with me at the time, and so failed to secure more than 

 one. The protuberance at the base of the upper mandible, and the white 

 patch on the back of the neck, were very conspicuous, and it was therefore 

 impossible to mistake the species. The third specimen I observed in 

 December, 1890, in Duach Bay. It was diving outside the breakers, and 

 I saw it distinctly through a glass. The surf was too heavy to allow of a 

 boat being launched, so that I was unable to go in pursuit of it. The only 

 one of these three which I shot was an immature female, and I am 

 informed by Mr. A. G. More, of Dublin, that this is the eighth specimen, 

 so far as is known, which has been obtained on the coasts of Ireland. — 

 J. R. Sheridan (Dugort, Achill Island). 



Early Nesting of the Heron. — On March 3rd a friend and I found a 

 Heron's nest containing five eggs. Is not this an unusual number? 

 None of the others examined contained more than two, though the remains 

 of an egg below oue of the nests in which two were noticed leads us to 

 believe that three had been laid in that one. — J. A. Bucknill (Hylands 

 House, Epsom). 



Woodcocks Breeding in the Lake District. — In connection with 

 Mr. G. W. Murdoch's note under this heading (p. 112), I may mention that 

 in the spring of 1888 I found a Woodcock's nest within a couple of miles of 

 Keswick. It was placed on some heathy ground and contained four eggs, 

 from which the old bird rose as I passed. An interesting point in the dis- 

 tribution of this species during the breeding-season is the fact that it nests 

 every year in considerable numbers in the New Forest, Hampshire. — 

 Harry F. Witherby (Blackheath). 



Mealy Redpoll in Achill Island, Co. Mayo. — Two specimens of 

 Linota linaria, Linn., a rare visitor to Ireland, were shot in Achill Sound, 

 in February, 1893, by a lady resident there, Mrs. Harvey, of Glenderary, 

 who presented one of them to the Dublin Natural History Museum. I am 

 inclined to think that this bird visits Achill Island every winter, but 

 escapes notice from its small size. I remember seeing some, several years 

 ago, feeding on a bunch of thistle-heads, as I informed Mr. A. G. More by 

 letter, but not having secured a specimen, I suppose he did not consider 

 the identity of the species sufficiently established to record it. — J. R. 

 Sheridan (Dugort, Achill Island). 



BufFon's Skua off Achill Island, Co. Mayo.— On the 29th Sept., 1892, 

 I shot one of these birds near the village of Duach. Being a male in the 

 adult plumage, I had no difficulty in identifying it. — J. R. Sheridan 

 (Dugort, Achill Island). 



Waxwing near Newmarket. — Mr. Baker, the taxidermist at Cam- 

 bridge, has a male Waxwing which, he informs me, was shot at Balsham, 



