Barnes, a rocky pass ten miles from this, and one at Lough Talt. The Pipistrelle, Vespertilio pipistrellus, is the only Bat I have seen hereabouts. I have seen one flit about church on Sunday, and it proved more successful in securing the attention of the people than the eloquent divine in the pulpit. With regard to birds, Ardea cinerea is always spoken of as the "Crane." Both Anser torquatus and A. leucopsis are known as Bernicle Geese, although the name belongs properly to the latter. As far as my observation goes, both species occur in about equal numbers on Lough Swilly. The owl mentioned as the Tawny Owl agreed best with the description of that species as given in such books as I had at hand. It was not the Long-eared Owl. The Thrush, singing in the gloaming and on "till night's dark mantle has covered all," has probably earned for it here the honourable title of the "Irish Nightingale." I myself saw fully-developed specimens of Echinus sphæra frequently on the fronds of Laminaria digitata while looking over a boat's side in calm water. I have no information as to "the difficulty" they may have experienced in "prowling over the fronds," but there they were. I presume I am not to be held responsible for the typographical errors in the spelling of Chylocladiæ and Echinus.—James A. Mahoney (Ramilton).
[We alone are to blame for the typographical errors referred to, and which escaped us when revising the proof of the article in question. We shall be very glad to receive a specimen of the "smaller member of the Stoat genus," which from the description we cannot doubt will prove to be a Weasel. Notwithstanding the generally accepted opinion of Thompson that the Weasel is not found in Ireland (see p. 224), we have evidence to the contrary in the following note from a very accurate observer.—Ed.]
Occurrence of the Weasel in Ireland.—Observing by your editorial note, at p. 224, that there is some doubt whether the Weasel is found in Ireland, I write to say that on the 5th November last, when visiting a friend in the County of Mayo, I saw a Weasel one afternoon hunting about a stone wall at Currawn, near Achill Sound, and as I watched it for some time at the distance of only a few yards, I could not possibly have been mistaken as to the species. I know both the Stoat and Weasel too well to mistake the one for the other, and had I been aware at the time of the existence of any doubt on the subject, I could easily have shot and forwarded the specimen.—William Borrer (Cowfold, Horsham).
Marten-cat in England and Wales.—It is perhaps worth noticing that the Marten-cat is still plentiful in the wilder parts of Cumberland and the immediately adjoining portions of Lancashire and Westmoreland. Owing to the destruction wrought by the Marten-cat amongst the lambs, all available means are employed to exterminate the race, and, in addition to traps and guns, many of the farmers in the Lake District employ fox-hounds, with which these animals as well as foxes are hunted at all seasons of the
