462 Contributions to the 
without having any label attached so it, a second specimen of Larus 
Sabinii. Upon inquiry from Mr Wall, the very obliging curator 
(who treasured the bird as a rarity, though he had not ascertained 
its species,) I learned that it had been shot by himself in Dublin 
Bay, near to Kingstown, a few years before, but he could not recol- 
lect at what season. The stage of plumage, however, affords suffi- 
cient evidence that it was killed in autumn, being a bird of the 
first year, and similar in appearance to the specimen in the Belfast 
Museum. 
The occurrence of only two specimens of this Gull within the 
Eastern Hemisphere, has hitherto been recorded, both of which 
were obtained by Captain Sabine at Spitzbergen. 
CYGNUS BEWICKII, Yarr. 
In the winter of 1829-30, a specimen of the Cygnus Bewickii, 
shot, I believe, in Lough Neagh, was brought to Belfast market. 
It was purchased for the Natural History Society of that town, and 
set up for their museum, the sternum, trachea, &c. being carefully 
preserved. In February 1830, a flock containing seven of these swans 
alighted in a flooded meadow near Belfast, when they were shot at, 
and two of them so disabled by the one discharge, as to be after 
some difficulty secured. They were bought by my friend William 
Sinclaire,Esq.; and on their wounds being found so trivial, as merely 
to incapacitate them from flight, were placed in his aquatic mena- 
gerie, where, in company with many other species of wild fowl, 
chiefly Analidce, they have ever since remained. On March 13, 
1830, another specimen of C. Bervickii appeared in our market, and 
met with a purchaser in my friend Richard Langtry, Esq., who has 
itjpreserved in his collection. 
On a comparison of the first mentioned individual, with the de- 
scription of Cygnus Bervickii by Mr Yarrell, * Mr Selby, "f* and 
Sir William Jardine, J I found the internal structure to agree, 
but in the external characters, there was one important difference, 
the number of tail-feathers being 20 instead of 18, as specified by 
these distinguished ornithologists. The result of this discrepancy 
induced me in February last to examine Mr Sinclaire's birds, which 
I did, with the assistance of that gentleman. These individuals 
differed from the descriptions above referred to in the following 
* Linnaeari Transactions, Vol. xvi. p. 445. et seq. 
f Illustrations of British Ornithology, letter- press to, pro tempore, p. 119, 
\ Jardine and Selby's Illustrations of British Ornithology, part 6. 
