28 THE 200L0GIST. 



shot here on Dec. 5th, 1890, as it was sitting on the top of a little oak 

 tree in a hedgerow. — H. Somers Rivers (Sawbridgeworth). 



The Antarctic Sheathbill on the Coast of Ireland. — On December 

 3rd, 1892, I received from Mr. Richard Hamilton, Principal Keeper at the 

 Carlingford Lighthouse, Co. Down, a letter dated the previous day, in 

 which he wrote, — " I am sending per parcel-post to-day a white bird, larger 

 than a pigeon, 1 shot at lighthouse." The bird duly arrived, and, having 

 no good library at hand, it puzzled me completely. It was, however, 

 recognised by my old friend Mr. A. Gr. More as the Sheathbill, Chionis 

 alba, of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. To set the matter 

 satisfactorily at rest Professor Newton was consulted, and the description 

 given by him proved that the identification was correct, and that it was not 

 C. minor of Korguelen-land and the Crozettes. On further enquiry Mr. 

 Hamilton wrote again, on Dec. 9th, the following account: — " I came off 

 the lighthouse to-day, and send you all particulars about the bird. At 

 8.30 a.m., on the 2nd inst., I was at the Blockhouse (a small island about 

 800 yards from lighthouse), shooting duck, and saw the bird walking about 

 on the highest part of it, which is not more than ten feet high. I first took it 

 for a tame pigeon, as it seemed to take no notice of me, but observed that 

 it walked differently, at about an angle of 45°, and was not pecking at any- 

 thing; so I fired at it, and was surprised to see jt go off. it took a half- 

 circle from the rock, and again alighted a few yards from the water. I 

 again fired at about forty yards; still the bird stood steady, as if not 

 touched; so I sent the dog for it, and when about two yards distant it 

 again took to flight, and seemed quite strong, but fell in the water about 

 fifty yards from the rock. I picked it up with the boat. Mr. Jeffers, the 

 assistant keeper, was looking on through a telescope from the lighthouse, 

 and says that the flight of the bird resembled that of a Puffin, but the 

 motion of the wing perhaps not so fast. It seemed quite at ease in the 

 water, but when the boat approached it opened its wings as a land bird 

 would do on the water." On examining it the specimen proved to be very 

 fat, and weighed 1 lb. 5 oz. ; the sex female, with some small eggs like 

 pin-heads in the ovary. There was no trace whatever of confinement on 

 any part of the plumage; and Mr. Williams, who skinned and mounted it, 

 is confident that the bird had not been in a cage for over four months at 

 least, — possibly a longer period, — so perfect are all the feathers. Mr. 

 Howard Saunders informs me that Chionis alba has been brought alive to 

 Europe several times, and, were it not for its perfect plumage and con* 

 dition, the specimen shot at Carlingford Lough might at once be placed 

 among the "assisted immigrants." It is scarcely credible that it can have 

 traversed 7000 miles unaided; but whether it escaped from a passing 



