264 



The IrisJi Natyrali;;t. 



December, 1905. 



visitor to this district. I had the pleasure of acquiring for our City 

 Museum a specimen of the rare Rednecked Grebe {Podicipes gnseigena). 

 It was shot at Lough Swilly in 1875 by Mr. John Bond. 



D C. Campbei,!,. 



Londonderry. 



Decrease of Crossbills 



Since 1889, when the first nest was found here, Crossbills bred 

 annually, and were to be seen almost daily, summer and winter, except 

 at certain times, when they probably wandered away for a few weeks at 

 a time. 



Their breeding-haunt has been a grove of old Scotch firs on a hill-top, 

 but their distinctive call-note of " Gip, gip," was to be heard in all 

 directions as they flew overhead ; they daily visited running water, or 

 the eave-shoots of my house, from which they drank when there was 

 water in them. 



In the end of March, 1904, two Crossbills' nests were found ; one of 

 these was examined on 17th April, and was found to contain young 

 which had recently been killed, and the brains of one of them picked 

 out. I sent them to Mr. Edward Williams, who suggested that they 

 had been killed by a Squirrel, as the nature of the wounds appeared to 

 have been caused by biting. 



Since then Crossbills have almost disappeared, and through the 

 breeding season of 1905 they were absent from their favourite haunts. 

 They have been once observed near my house on 7th November, but 

 that is the only observation of them made here this year. 



This lack of Crossbills coincides with a rapid increase of Squirrels, 

 animals that were formerly unheard-of in this county. In May, 1899, 

 we saw the first of them, and then a Squirrel about once a year, until 

 the last couple of years, where they have built through the plantations, 

 and may be seen daily in every direction. 



I should like to know if Crossbills have disappeared in other parts of 

 Ireland where they settled after their great immigration, or increase, in 

 the later eighties, and if there is any reason to think that the increase 

 of Squirrels observable in so many localities may have contributed to 

 this decrease of Crossbills. 



R. J. TJSSHER. 



Cappagh. 



Quail in Co. Waterford. 



On 6th June, 1905, I heard a Quail calling distinctly in a meadow at 

 Ballynamedagh. The last time I had heard it in this district was on 

 nth July, 1888. 



R. J. UvS.SHER. 



Cappagh. 



