Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetus) in Co. GalwayAuthor(s): Edward WilliamsSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Jul., 1892), p. 83Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25584826 .

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Notes. 83

[From a description furnished by Mr. W. Connell, this bird was, no

doubt, a Greater-spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major), which oc

casionally appears as a rare visitor to Ireland in late autumn, but has never been found breeding in this country. The Green and the Lesser

spotted Woodpeckers have also been found, but only three or four times in Ireland, and they are far more scarce with us than the Greater-spotted

Woodpecker.?A. G. More.l Golden Bagle (Aquila chrysaetus) in Co. Galway.?On the 24th of

April I received a very fine specimen of this noble bird obtained in the

vicinity of I^eenane, Co. Galway. It was shot while devouring a lamb, and was exceedingly fat, measuring seven feet from tip-to-tip of wings, and three feet from beak to tail. Mr. Ussher informs me they have bred

during the last few years in the immediate vicinity of where this bird was obtained.?Bdward Williams, Dublin.

The Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus) at Portmarnock.?In a conversation with Mr. Rielly, the gamekeeper in charge of the rabbit

warren at Portmarnock, near Dublin, he informed me that in the spring of 1888 a covey of Sandgrouse consisting of fifteen birds took up their

residence, and remained for about six weeks on the Portmarnock sand

hills, where they were strictly protected by orders of the agent, Captain Thompson, in the hope that they mi^ht

remain and breed. In this, however, he was

disappointed, as the birds all left by the end of June;

but while on the sandhills, they used to gather in the centre of a large pasture field to spend the night.?Edward Williams, Dublin.

Fork-tailed Petrel {Oceanodroma leucorrhoa, Vieillot) in Co. Antrim.?Mr. Sheals, the Belfast taxidermist, has drawn my attention to a Fork-tailed Petrel recently sent to him. It was picked up near Ballin

derry, at the south-eastern shore of Lough Neagh, on the 27th April last, and had evidently been dead a few days. It was a mature male in

good plumage, and its occurrence in Co. Antrim at this date is interest

ing. It would be strange if a single bird would wander so far inland, and I would be glad to know if other occurrences have been noted.?

Robert Patterson, Belfast. Fulmar (Pulmarus glacialis) in Co. Donegal.?On May igth

I

picked up on the sands between Ballyshannon and Bundoran, a specimen of this bird in a recent state. I believe this is an unusual time of year for it to occur.?H. Lvster Jameson.

Ivory Gull (Lams ebumeus) in Dublin.?In the Zoologist for June, Messrs. B. G. Waddilove and S. V. Cooke write that on the 19th April

last they saw an Ivory Gull feeding with common and black-headed

gulls on the garbage of the Liifey, just above Grattan Bridge, in Dublin.

MAMMALS.

The Marten (Mustela martes) in Co. Wexford.?A specimen of this rare animal was taken on May ist at Coolbawn, in the Co. Wexford,

by my friend Mr. Arthur Ruttledge. This capture is most interesting, and sets at rest for the present all doubts as to the survival of the Marten in that part of Ireland. It is now nine or ten years since I last heard of

marten being taken in the county, and that one {which was caught in a trap at Ballyhyland) was released without having been authenticated.

There is, however, pretty strong circumstantial evidence that it was an actual marten. The most fortunate feature in Mr. Ruttledge's capture is that his specimen is a young one, and there is, therefore, every prospect of its long continuing an object of interest to visitors to the Zoological Gardens,?the home to which Mr. Ruttledge has consigned it,?where naturalists will be glad to learn that it is now to be seen in cage facing one of the entrances to the monkey-house, apparently none the worse for its passing acquaintance with the jaws of a rabbit-trap.?C. B. Moffat,

Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford.

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