28 tHe zoologist. 



the feathers still margined with a darker shade ; in the length of the tail, 

 which is fully ten inches, the bird shows its close approach to the fully 

 adult state. There would appear to have been several adult Buffon's 

 Skuas about the river when this specimen was procured, and I have been 

 informed that they were called locally " Fork-tailed Petrels." Two Manx 

 Shearwaters, and a Great-crested Grebe, the last in almost mature 

 plumage, have also been sent to me. — Murray A. Mathew (Buckland 

 Dinham, Frome). 



Petrels and Phalarope in the Isle of Man. — Referring to the recent 

 occurrence of many Petrels in Ireland (Zool. 1891, pp. 468, 469) I may 

 mention that, being at Peel on the evening of Sept. 27th, I saw two in 

 the bay of that town. They were flying backwards and forwards near the 

 shore wall, dipping to the surface of the water in their characteristic way, 

 and coming so close that I could distinctly see the thin light-coloured 

 line across their wings. As the town houses extend all along the beach, 

 the birds attracted a number of boys, who threw stones at them and 

 quickly drove them away. About the same date a Petrel was procured in 

 the south of the island. I cannot say positively whether these belonged to 

 the Stormy or Fork-tailed species. In November a Grey Phalarope was 

 picked up on the Peel railway line near Union Mills, 2 J miles inland from 

 Douglas. It seemed to have been killed by striking the telegraph-wires. 

 ; P. Ralfe (4, Queen's Terrace, Hawarden Avenue, Douglas, I.M.). 



Grey Phalarope in Devon. — During the months of October and 

 November last, large flocks of Phalaropes were seen all along our coast, 

 driven here probably by the S.E. winds which raged violently during the 

 former month. Hundreds of these birds were seen by Mr. E. A. S. Elliot 

 at Milton Sea and Huish Sea, on the South coast ; and in a letter which I 

 received from that gentleman he states: — "It was a sight never to be for- 

 gotten, as I stood on the shore watching these birds." At Exmouth also 

 they appeared in flocks, and, on paying a visit to the taxidermist in that 

 town, I was shown some twelve or fifteen specimens which had been brought 

 in for preservation. The last great immigration of these birds to Devon 

 appears to have been in the year 1870, but almost every year a few strag- 

 glers are seen. — Wm. E. H. Pidsley (Exeter). 



Red-necked Phalarope in Ireland. — On the 13th November last 

 I received a female specimen of this bird, Phalaropas hyperboreus, shot by 

 Mr. J. Haire, of Loughgilly, Co. Armagh. When first observed it was 

 "going round like a wheel on the water." I believe this is the first 

 recorded Irish occurrence. — E. Williams (2, Dame Street, Dublin). 



[In his ' List of Irish Birds' (1885), Mr. A. G. More remarks (p. 20):^ 

 "The Pved-necked Phalarope, which breeds in several parts of the West 

 of Scotland, has not yet been found in Ireland, though it might well be 



