72 



The Irish Naturalist. 



March, 1905. 



Tree Sparrow in Belmullet, Co. Mayo. 



On February 10 a good specimen of the Tree Sparrow was sent me by 

 an esteemed correspondent from Belmullet, Co. Mayo. He had dis- 

 covered a colony of these birds in that district and sent me the specimen 

 for verification, although he had no doubt of the species. It is very 

 interesting that a colony should have been discovered so far west, as it 

 appears, since its first discovery (in 1852) in the Co. Dublin, to be con- 

 fined altogether to that Eastern county, though indeed Mr. H. M. Wallis 

 states that he identified a pair frequenting the roof of a cabin on Arran- 

 more Island, off" the coast of Donegal, in 1886. {Zoologist, 1886, p. 459.) 

 But in 1896, Mr. R. J. Ussher and Rev. A. Ellison visiting Arranmore, 

 found no trace of this bird. 



Robert Warren 



Moyview, Ballina. 



Remains of the Common Mole in Ireland. 



Mr. R. Welch has lately sent me a bird's pellet which is especially 

 interesting, inasmuch as it contained a skull of the Common Mole 

 {Talpa europoea), an animal unknown as an inhabitant of Ireland. The 

 pellet was found by Mr. Welch in the Benevenagh Woods, Bellarena, 

 Co. Derry, last March, and was most likely deposited by a hawk or 

 buzzard which had flown over from Ayrshire or Cantyre, a distance of 

 fifty or sixty miles. 



LiONKi. E. Adams. 



Reigate. 



GEOLOGY. 

 Geological Photographs. 



The report of the British Association Geological Photographs Com- 

 mittee for 1903-4 again makes clear the interest and importance of the 

 work on which this Committee is engaged. We are glad to notice that 

 Messrs. Muff and Wright's set of the Pre-glacial raised beach of Cork has 

 been added to the series ; for the rest, Ireland is represented in the list 

 of additions by Mr. Welch and Dr. Matley. The total number of photo- 

 graphs received up to the present shows 3,014 from England and Wales 

 459 from Scotland, and 646 from Ireland. Of the last-named total, ovei 

 400 come from the north-east^ and are chiefly the work of the Belfast 

 Field Club. When will our other Field Clubs lend a hand } At present 

 Co. Dublin is represented by only 42 photographs, Wicklow by i (and 

 that one belongs to Co. Dublin !), Cork by 21 (almost exclusively Mr. 

 Welch's work), and Limerick by o. Here is a chance for all our Clubs to 

 do really important scientific work, at a minimum of time, trouble, and 

 expense. 



