276 
The Irish Naturalist. 
December, 
Stormy Petrel in Co. Down. 
On October 16 a Stormy Petrel passed quite close to me, flying towards 
Sydenham from the direction of the Engine Sheds, and about a mile 
from the centre of Belfast. When I first saw it several Meadow Pipits 
were in pursuit, but they soon gave up the chase, and I watched it until 
it flew out of sight. There was a fairly strong wind blowing from the 
south-west at the time, and it was flying with the wind, and appeared 
strong enough on the wing. 
Herbert T. Mai^comson. 
Belfast. 
Quail in Co. Armagh. 
It may be of some interest that a Quail was shot in this county a short 
time since. Mr. Arthur Sinton was out partridge shooting about the 
middle of September, when to his surprise a Quail got up, which he 
promptly shot. He thinks there was another, or perhaps two, but 
is not sure on this point. He is getting the one he obtained stuffed by 
a well-known man in Belfast. I have avoided giving the particular 
locality for obvious reasons. 
Wm. M'Endoo 
Ballymore Rectory, Tauderagee. 
Snowy Owl in Co. Mayo. 
In the Zoologist for September Mr. W. J. Williams records a Snowy Owl 
{Nyctea scandiaca) in second year's plumage, shot at BelmuUeton July 21. 
Pugnacity of the Common Tern. 
Since the appearance in the September issue of this Journal of a note 
under the above heading, my attention has been drawn by my friend, 
Mr. C. B. Moffat, to the great difiiculty of distinguishing, on the wing, 
the Common Tern {Sterna fliiviatilis) from the Arctic Tern (.S". macrura). 
On looking into the matter more closely, it appears to me that my 
identification of the Balbriggan bird is open to some doubt. I am not 
prepared to assert that the bird was not the Arctic Tern, and, on the 
whole, it seems safer for the present to regard its identity as an open 
question. This much at all events is certain, that the bird belonged to 
one or other of the two species mentioned. 
N, C01.GAN. 
Sandycovc. 
