202 



The Irish Naturalist. 



October, 



immature females. Three others were seen along the sand- 

 hills, one being trapped, but afterwards making its escape. 

 Their principal food was rabbits, barn-door fowls, and an 

 occasional duck." The island called the Great Skellig, off the 

 coast of Kerry, supplied three specimens, an adult male and 

 female, and one immature female, which were shot by the 

 light-keepers, and came into my possession, I might mention 

 that during the previous visitation of these birds (1883-1884), 

 several were obtained on the same island, two of which are in 

 the Irish collection in the National Museum. One specimen 

 is mentioned as occurring at Dunfanaghy in the current 

 volume of the 'Irish Naturalist' (p. 119), and one was 

 trapped on 9th April by the game-keeper on Mr. Orme's 

 property at Crossmolina, Co. Mayo, a female in nearly adult 

 plumage. I have also had the opportunity of examining 

 another shot in the month of March at Mizen Head, Co. 

 Cork, a very large immature female, with the wings and tail 

 greatly barred. 



At a meeting of the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club on March 

 31st, I had the pleasure of exhibiting an immature female 

 Iceland Falcon {Falco islandus) which had been obtained at 

 Oughterard, Co. Oalway. The game-keeper belonging to a 

 gentleman in the district, hearing a great commotion amongst 

 his poultry, rushed out, and was just in time to secure the fine 

 specimen which occupies the centre of the photograph (Plate 

 6), accompanying this paper. Another was seen, probably a 

 male, but was not obtained, although seen about the district 

 for some time afterwards. I may here remark that Falco 

 islandus can always be distinguished from F. ca?idicans by the 

 dark ground with light edges to the feathers, whereas in the 

 latter the groundwork is always white, with dark spots or 

 longitudinal marks according to the age of the bird. It 

 would thus appear that nine specimens of the Greenland 

 Falcon were actually obtained to one Iceland Falcon, a 

 strange fact that the bird resident so near our shores should 

 be the much rarer visitant to our coast, this being the third 

 Irish specimen in existence. According to Mr. Ussher in 

 his invaluable work on the Birds of Ireland, the Greenland 

 Falcon has been obtained nineteen times ; if we include the 

 nine mentioned above, it brings the total to iwenty-eight 



