132 



The Irish Naturalist. 



November, 



A man of the type of Augustine might have told us a 

 great deal more about the Irish fauna. It is unfortunate 

 he did not do so. He does not mention the Bear as still 

 existing in Ireland in the year 655. The Deer he alludes 

 to were presumably Red Deer, for it is probable that both 

 the Reindeer and Irish Elk had already been exterminated. 

 It would be interesting to know what the wild swine were 

 like. It is certain that fierce wild boars inhabited the 

 ancient Irish forests, and we are told also that small 

 so-called wild swine abounded in the woods in the 12th 

 century. The latter I believe were not truly wild swine 

 but the feral descendants of an old domesticated stock. 

 All these and many other zoological questions might have 

 been answered by Augustine, who had a rare capacity for 

 observation and was endowed with a surprising amount of 

 learning and knowledge. 



Knockranny, Bray. 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



DUBLIN NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB. 



July 27. — Excursion to Lambay. — ^Leaving Howth Pier soon after 

 12, a party of 33 members and visitors reached Lambay in a little less 

 than an hour, and spent a delightful afternoon among the interesting 

 birds and plants of that too rarely visited island. It was not, of course, 

 to be expected that important discoveries would be made, considering 

 how careful a survey had been made in the years 1905 and 1906 of nearly 

 every branch of the island's fauna and flora ; but it is clear from the 

 captures made on this excursion by Mr. Stelfox of various species of 

 humble bees and wasps (already recorded in this Journal, pp. 108-^) 

 that plenty of work still remains to be done among even the most easily 

 explored orders of the insects. Among the more interesting birds 

 observed were the Raven, which is now known to be once more a regular 

 breeder in this old but long abandoned resort, and the Peregrine Falcon, 

 of which an example was noted in apparently immature plumage. The 

 huge breeding colonies of Kittiwakes, Guillemots, and Pufhns naturally 

 attracted the largest share of attention ; but the fact that a Spotted 

 Flycatcher was seen near Lambay Castle may be worth noting, as this 

 species is marked with a query in Mr. Patterson's list (/. A^., vol. xvi., 

 p. 26). Some curiosity was aroused by the finding of a number of acorns 

 dropped on wild ground, as if by birds, on the higher part of the island ; 



