THE BXHDS OF DONEGAL. 337 



for some time by Mr. J. Young. Mr. Stewart shot a pair at Ards 

 early in this century, he believed the first obtained in Ireland. 



*Bullfinch, Pyrrhula vulgaris, Stephens. — Not rare in the 

 early spring. Breeds at Glenalla, where I have seen them 

 occasionally at all seasons. Several pairs visited Carrablagh 

 during last winter, always in perfect plumage. "Breeds com- 

 monly at Lough Eske, where they are to be seen in glorious 

 plumage at this season (winter) of the year" (A. B.). 



Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra, Linn. — Very rare visitor. " Saw 

 three of these birds for the first time in my life on the top of a 

 larch tree in Drumgunne (?) wood, near Donegal, in February of 

 last year (1890). I watched them for a long time, from a short 

 distance, picking the cones. They have been seen this winter in 

 the Co. Derry" (A. B.). 



*Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, Linn. — Resident, and rapidly 

 increasing as a breeding species in the North of Ireland. At 

 Killycarnon, near Aughnacloy, Co. Tyrone, Starlings have become 

 a great pest in the breeding season, pulling straw out of thatch 

 and stuffing gutters and pipes with it. At Glenalla, about eight 

 or ten years ago, I noted that it was " not met with in Fanet or 

 Glenalla during breeding season. Abundant in autumn and 

 winter, and roosting in large flocks in the reeds at Lough Fern." 

 They breed at Glenalla now, in the eaves of the Parsonage. 

 I recollect being the first to take Starling's eggs, as a schoolboy 

 at Portora, Enniskillen, about twenty-five years ago. They were 

 regarded as great rarities, and one pair by judicious management 

 were made to yield me about twenty eggs out of a hole in a tree. 

 At that period they had not taken to breeding like Sparrows 

 about the house. In Trinity College, Dublin, a large colony of 

 breeding Starlings has established itself — not, I think, to the 

 advantage of the Examination Hall entrance. At Carrablagh 

 Starlings come in small flocks to roost in plantations behind the 

 house throughout the winter, but as yet they have not bred there. 

 " Though there is no commoner bird here in winter, I never knew 

 of Starlings breeding anywhere in Donegal until last season, 

 when a pair built in my yard in a hole in a gable, and another 

 pair in a hole under the eave of the Murray School close by. 

 I also saw at least two more pairs about the village at the same 

 time, so it is certain that others remained to breed also. In the 

 hard winter that we had ten or twelve years ago, some Starlings 



ZOOLOGIST. — SEPT. 1891. 2 E 



