1906. Foster. — NesHjig of Tree- Sparrow in Co* Deny. 223 
the Tuskar rock, off Wexford, in the route of migrating birds, 
I have notices of this bird from the Counties of Wexford and 
Fermanagh, which I have no wish to discredit, but the corrobo- 
ration of specimens is wanting, and until such are obtained 
those localities cannot be admitted." Referring to Mr. H. M, 
Wallis' note in the Zoologist for 1886, he adds— *' The species 
cannot have established itself there, for in 1896, when I 
visited Aranmore with Rev. A. Ellison, we passed an hour in» 
specting the Sparrows about the cabins on the island, without 
meeting with a Tree-Sparrow." In the Irish Naturalist (1905) 
Mr. Robert Warren records the finding of a colony of Tree- 
Sparrows at BelmuUet, Co. Maj'o ; and Mr. Ussher writes me 
that it has been reported from another coast village in the 
same county. 
It is probable that the Tree-Sparrow has established itself 
in many other localities, but owing to its resemblance to the 
male House-Sparrow, has not been recognised. Doubtless a 
careful scrutiny, more particularly around our coast, would 
reveal the existence of the species in many other localities. 
Hillsborough J Co. Down. 
WHY USE NUMBERS FOR THE NAMES OF 
COUNTIES ? 
BY CANON H. W. I.ETT, M.A., M.R.I.A. 
An article in the May number of the Irish Natuyalist {supra, 
p. 118) on " Some Irish Brambles " has induced me to give my 
views on the use of numbers in the place of the names of the 
counties in Topographical Botany. In the paper referred to, 
the writer gives the localities under the double designation of 
the county name and a number according to the plan used by 
Mr. R. lyl. Praeger in his hish Topographical Botany and 
other more recent writings, while some authors go the whole 
length of giving the number only. The system of recording 
the localities by this double method was first used by Mr. 
H. C. Watson in his Cybele Britannica published in 1847-1852, 
and was subsequently fully developed as it now stands for 112 
*' vice-counties " in his Topographical Botayiy published in 
1873-74- 
A 2 
