26 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
much more, but you shall hear from me soon. Lima is a large town, but that is all 
I can say for it at present. The road from Callao to it is very pretty, but danger¬ 
ous, as it is invested by highwaymen, and I have been cautioned repeatedly not to 
be out after dark, so good-bye to catching moths by moon or lamplight; and now, 
having reached this fair country of the humming-bird, and fragrant with exotic 
flowers, being actually on Peruvian soil, a pleasure we both used to wish for so, I 
must make the best use of my time.’’ 
Also the following letter from Dr. Burkitt, of Waterford, on the— 
OCCURRENCE OF RARE BIRDS IN IRELAND. 
Within the last few years the following birds have come under my 
notice in this locality. In January, 1854, a bird, which I believe to be a male of 
the red-necked gull, in its immature state, was taken inland about two miles from 
Tramore, County Waterford, by John Strangman, Esq., who kindly sent it to me; 
the dimensions of which are as follows :—Total length from point of bill to end of 
tail, 17^- inches; bill, from forehead to point, If inches; gape, 2f inches ; from point 
of bill to nostril, If inches; wing, from carpus to end of second quill, 6f inches; 
tarsus, about 2 inches; outer toe and nail, 2f inches; inner do., 2 inches; hind toe and 
nail, f inch; weight, 15 ounces; length of neck when stretched, about 7 inches; bird 
extremely thin and soft, as if much handled; sides covered with a dusky yellow 
margin ; bill, upper mandible, same dusky brown colour as the head ; under man¬ 
dible, pinked yellow; when taken the bill was yellow towards the base, and greenish 
horn-colour towards the tip; feet, greenish yellow, on inner side. The colour and 
description of this bird nearly corresponds with that in Montague’s Dictionary, Edit. 
1831, except that this specimen was long-necked and slender, probably from its 
attenuated state when captured. 
A bittern, differing totally from any that have occurred to me, both in markings 
and colour, and which is probably the American Bittern , was taken in October, 
1854, in the County Kilkenny, within a short distance of Waterford, and is at 
present in my possession. The dimensions, previous to mounting, were as follows: — 
Total length from point of bill to end of tail, about 26f inches; bill, from forehead 
to point, 2f inches ; gape, 3f inches; wing, from carpus to end of third or longest 
quill, 12 inches; tail, 5 inches; tarsus, about 3 inches; middle toe and nail, 31- 
inches ; outer toe and nail, 2f inches; back toe and nail, If inches; back nail about 
f inch. The nails are far shorter than those of the common bittern, so much so 
as to strike one immediately; the bird was an immature male; was attenuated, and 
weighed about If lbs. ; irdes, orange yellow; eyelid, margined with the same 
colour; bill, above blackish ; sides, greenish yellow; beneath under mandible, an 
orange streak, with a black streak or spot near tip (of under mandible) on each 
side; legs, greenish yellow ; tail of 12 feathers. The following are the colours, to 
the best of my judgment, as I may err, being a vei^ indifferent judge of colours:— 
Head, neck, and back, dusky or blackish gray, with yellowish streaks in centre of 
each feather; wing consists nearly of same colour, with broader streaks; quills, 
above, more of a dusky-gray, with broader and whiter streaks ; under quills of a 
grayish-drab colour ; throat of a dirty white, with a few blackish spots ; breast and 
belly of- same colour, with larger streaks than on the throat; thighs, grayish drab, 
with brownish streaks; tail of much the same grayish drab as under surface of 
wings; under tail and vent white; a dark greenish naked skin between the bill 
and eyes; legs, greenish yellow. A specimen of the female ruff, a scoter, but ter¬ 
ribly shorn of its feathers; the former shot at Kilbarry, within a mile of Water¬ 
ford ; the latter obtained in Tramore. A fork-tailed petrel, taken alive from a 
hawk, near Kilmacow, County Kilkenny, October, 1852. Two others of same kind 
(P. Leachii) were found on the banks of the Suir, near Waterford, dead, the same 
season. Some two or three specimens of this bird occurred in 1848-9. The hoppoe, 
common petrel, turnstone, gray plover, lesser hen, and green sandpiper, have occurred 
in many instances of late, and the spotted water-rail has become more frequent than for¬ 
merly, probably from having been more sought after. The skua I have seen occa¬ 
sionally during the last three seasons, about October and November, one only at a 
time, chasing other gulls (as recorded by all observers of this bird), both at Tramore 
and at Dunmore West. 
The brambling has been obtained on four occasions within a short distance of 
4 
