Natural History of Ireland. 465 
of this species, in mature plumage, but could not learn any parti- 
culars of its capture. January 5, J836. William Sinclaire, Esq. 
informs me, that he heard of two " strings'' of wild swans, consisting 
of twenty-eight birds, havingbeen seen yesterday at the bog-meadows, 
near Belfast ; and that he to-day saw a string of nineteen, flying with 
extreme slowness, from the direction of Belfast Bay, to the same 
place : from their call, though somewhat hoarser, being like that 
of the individuals in Mr Sinclaire's possession ; and from their ap- 
parent similarity in size, he was fully satisfied that they were the 
Cygnus Bewickii. 
Dublin, February 5, 1836. In a letter to me of this date, Ro- 
bert Ball, Esq. mentions having recently got three specimens of 
Cygnus Bewickii ; two of which were shot in the county Fermanagh, 
and a third he bought in Dublin market ; along with the last, there 
was another exposed for sale, but he could not ascertain where they 
were killed. 
March 17, 1836. I examined a specimen of Cygnus Bewickii, 
which was shot at Lough Beg, adjoining Lough Neagh, on the 12th 
instant. Its length is 3 feet 9 in. ; tail feathers 20 ; knob in bill 
very small ; feathers on forehead deep rust colour ; on sides of head 
tinged with pale rust-colour at their extremities ; tips of feathers 
on breast and entire under surface of belly of a rust-colour, so ex- 
tremely pale, as to have the appearance merely of being soiled ; bill 
pale orange on the ridge, as far as nostrils : on the sides, this colour 
advancing a little farther, thence to tip black. On dissection, it 
proved a female. Its stomach was filled with minute seeds and gra- 
vel. As I have, during the last two months, heard of flocks of wild 
swans being frequently seen on Lough Neagh, there is little doubt 
that they have been there since first observed in January, and that 
they will most probably remain until the period of their vernal mi- 
gration. The five remaining birds of the flock, out of which Mr 
Sinclaire's specimens were obtained in 1830, went off in the direc- 
tion of Lough Neagh, and a similar number, presumed to be the 
same individuals, were a few days afterwards seen in the flooded 
meadows, where they had been fired at. This is mentioned, simply 
to show their continuance in the neighbourhood. 
Although the Cygnus Bewickii is considered to visit England 
less commonly than the Cygnus ferus, it is certainly of more fre- 
quent occurrence than this species in Ireland. 
