The Irish Naturalist. 
October, rgoS. 
Tree Sparrows in Co. Dublin. 
Ou the road from Skerries to Balbriggan on the 19th August I found a 
colony of this species feeding in the corn fields close to the sea road. In 
one flock I counted twenty birds, and there were several small parties 
feeding further in the field. I think this species is often overlooked, as, 
owing to its wildness, it is almost impossible to identify. It usually flies 
straight in the air, not allowing a nearer approach than eighty yards ; but 
the note is different from the House Sparrow, and once you are familiar 
with it you can always detect the Tree Sparrow even in the company of 
his more confiding brother (/Pai-^^r domestic us)-, it is smaller in size, but 
any person wishing to become acquainted with this species, had better 
arm themselves with a powerful field glass ; in my opinion it is the 
wildest small bird in this country. 
W. J. WlWAMS. 
2 Darae-street, Dublin. 
Glossy Ibis in Co. Down. 
On Monday, loth September, I had the pleasure of examining, in the 
flesh, a beautiful specimen of the Glossy Ibis {Plegadis falcinelhis, Linn.), 
which had been shot on the sloblands of the old " People's Park," now 
Victoria Park, on the Co. Down side of the river, and at the extreme 
end of Belfast Lough. It was first seen on Thursday, 6th, and its large 
size and dark plumage having attracted attention, it was pursued by a 
gunner the following day — ytli inst. — and shot. It was only winged, 
and came into the possession of Mr. S. M. Stears, who kept it alive 
until the Sunday evening, when it died. Mr. Stears very kindly 
brought it to me early the next morning, and it is now in the hands of 
Messrs. Sheals, the taxidermists. Like most of the twenty-five speci- 
mens which are on record as having occurred in Ireland, this bird is a 
young one. It is a male, 24 inches long, and weighed i lb 2 ozs. Its 
stomach contained nothing but a few bits of seaweed. Mr. Stears tried 
to feed it, but he noticed the great difficulty it had in picking up any 
object from a hard, flat surface, showing that it was accustomed to delve 
for its food in soft oose. The Glossy Ibis has only occurred twice in 
Ulster previously— viz., in 1819 and 1853 — Co. Antrim claiming both 
records. 
RoBi^RT Patterson. 
Holywood, Co. Down, 
