270 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



who was walking with me instantly identified it as a Hoopoe, a species 

 which he had often seen and shot in South Africa. — M. Burr (Hazelwood, 

 Limpsfield, Surrey). 



Supplementary Notes on the Birds of Donegal. — Mr. G. H. East- 

 wood, of Godalming, Surrey, has kindly sent me the following notes, which 

 were taken by him while staying at Bundoran from July to September, 1891. 

 Lough Melvin is just outside the southern edge of the county : — 



Sedge Warbler. Abundant along the Bundrowes river. 



Kingfisher. Saw several of these birds along the Bundrowes. A speci- 

 men in perfect plumage was drowned in one of the eel-nets on Aug. 19th. 



Curlew. According to William Despard, Lord Massy 's bailiff at Lareen, 

 Curlews breed on a small island at Lough Melvin. 



Black Tern, Hydrochelidon nigra. " About Aug. 7th, as I was walking 

 along the shore of Lough Melvin, a dark-coloured Tern passed me, which 

 I did not recognise as it was getting dusk. Next day, when out fishing, 

 the same bird came close to me, when I saw that it was a Black Tern. 

 After this I saw it every day up to Aug. 14th, when, rough and stormy 

 weather coming on, it disappeared. It seemed a fully adult bird, having 

 no white about the head or throat. Whenever it approached any of the 

 Arctic Terns, of which there is a colony breeding, several would set on it 

 and drive it to a different part of the Lough. It appeared to be hawking 

 for the Green-drake, Ephemera danica, of which there were numbers about. 

 The flight of the Black Tern was very graceful and more rapid than that of 

 the other Terns — more like that of a Swift, but, of course, much slower. 

 I saw several fresh-laid Arctic Tern's eggs as late as Aug. 1st." — H. 

 Chichester Hart (Carrablagh, Port Salon, Letterkenuy). 



Sand Martin in Co. Donegal. — I have already noticed the rarity of 

 these birds in this county. On June 24th a pair were haunting the stream 

 through our golf-links at Ballynatocher Strand, Port Salon. — H. C. Hart. 



Blackbird pairing with Thrush. — In a garden belonging to a gentle- 

 man residing in the north end of Edinburgh a pair of Blackbirds were 

 engaged in rearing a second brood, when, after the full complement of eggs 

 had been laid, a cat made the cock bird a widower. The poor bird, 

 however, was not long in finding a mate ready to take the place of the 

 deceased ; but, to the amazement of the gentleman referred to, the foster- 

 mother was no Blackbird, but a Song Thrush ! — in all probability, one 

 whose own family had just been safely reared in the same garden. Greatly 

 interested in the new turn of affairs, my friend watched the pair closely, 

 and found that the Blackbird was most assiduous in his attention to his 

 partner, feeding her regularly during her incubation. The birds became 

 very tame, showing no uneasiness when the children of the house visited 

 their nest and fed their young. After a short time, however, a most 



