72 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



heavily barred with dark markings ; tail very dark, with rich brown 

 bars. The Go. Leitrim bird has narrow stripes down back and head ; 

 breast heavily barred with brown, but not so dark as the other speci- 

 mens ; no appearance of white on breast as usual in Common Snipe ; 

 altogether an intermediate form between the Common Snipe and 

 Sabine's. It is interesting, if this is a variety and not a species, that 

 three specimens should have been shot within such a short period. — 

 W. J. Williams (2, Dame Street, Dublin). 



Tringa alpina in Northamptonshire. — I have just seen a Dunlin in 

 adult winter plumage, which was shot near Brackley on Jan. 30th. — 

 0. V. Aplin. 





Colymbus glacialis in Gloucestershire. — A Great Northern Diver 

 was shot on the Isis at Hempsford, near Fairford, about the middle of 

 November, 1906. Mr. Darbey, who preserved it, informs me that it 

 was in full summer plumage. — 0. V. Aplin. 



Some Rare Visitors to Bartragh Island, Killala Bay. — The great 

 snowstorm, and three days' terrific northerly gale accompanying it, 

 brought some rare and strange visitors to the island. On the morning 

 of Dec. 30th last my friend Captain Kirkwood, of Bartragh, observing 

 some Geese feeding on a swampy flat between his stables and the sand- 

 hills — taking his glass to examine them more closely — was greatly 

 surprised to see a flock of fourteen Snow-Geese, four white adults and 

 ten greyish -coloured birds that he took to be young ones. Going down 

 to the stables, and concealed behind the gables, he watched them for 

 some time as they fed up to within two hundred yards of where he was 

 standing ; so he easily identified them, their black-tipped primaries 

 denoting the species. Captain Kirkwood continued watching them 

 with great interest as they greedily fed towards him, when unfortu- 

 nately a young dog, suddenly rushing out of the yard, disturbed them, 

 when they rose and flew towards the mainland. Captain Kirkwood 

 suggests that they were two broods with their parent birds, and this is 

 very likely, for some years ago. meeting a flock of Bewick's Swans 

 when out in my punt, I failed to get a shot at them, owing to the 

 watchfulness of a very large old bird accompanied by a pair of grey . 

 cygnets. The latter kept close to him, and whenever I approached 

 with the punt he always drew off, uttering a low call, at once responded 

 to by the cygnets swimming up to him, and keeping quite close while 

 he called, while the other birds scattered widely as they swam away. 

 So in this instance of an old Swan taking care of its young ones after 

 their long flight from Siberia, is it unlikely that some old Geese would 





