THE NIGHTJAR. Goatsucker. Fern-Owl. Caprimulgus Europaus, Linn. Is a regular summer visitant to favourite localities in all quarters of the island; but of rare appearance elsewhere. In the neighbourhood of Belfast it is very seldom seen. A venerable sporting friend, who has been shooting here regularly in the season for above sixty years, has not during that time met with a dozen of these birds, although there are several districts apparently well suited to them. In the wooded glen at the "Falls," one was observed by Mr. Wm. Sinclaire and myself, some years ago, perching lengthwise (as the species is well known to do), instead of across the branch of a fine beech tree, then displaying the tender and beautiful green of its young leaves. I am aware of five only having been killed, within twelve miles of Belfast, during the last twenty years. Of these, the first was shot at Belvoir Park, on the 28th of July, 1827; the second, in the summer of 1835, in the district of Malone; the third, on the 25th of September, that year, in Hillsborough Park; the fourth, on the 1st of June, 1840, at Bangor Castle: its stomach was filled with the remains of several individuals of the dor-beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius); the fifth was killed near Langford Lodge, on the 1st of June, 1843. The late George Matthews, Esq., informed me, that in the district of the Ards, county of Down, the goatsucker has not unfrequently been observed; he had seen it on different occasions at Springvale; and a few have been shot about Echinville. It is a regular summer visitant to the Mourne mountains, and particularly to those in the vicinity of Tollymore Park.* The gamekeeper there, stated in 1836, that he had frequently found *In Templeton's Catalogue of Vertebrate Animals (Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. new series), this bird is noticed as "rare about Belfast; but [not] uncommon at Mourne, county Down." The not before " uncommon was omitted in the printing of the paper. " nests of the goatsucker, and rarely observed more than one egg in any of them. On the 28th of June, 1838, he pointed out to me one of their nests, if such it may be called, at the base of a young tree planted in the spring of that year in a plantation on the mountain side. The bird was seen on the ground from some distance, and did not take wing until we approached within seven or eight paces-it flew but a short way before alighting. Two very young birds on the bare earth, whence their parent rose, were observed; and about the distance of a foot from where they were, the eggs had been incubated. A nightjar was shot at the deanery, Armagh, a few years ago; and two appeared on the 24th of July, 1843, at Knappa, in that county.* The nightjar is common in the north-west of Donegal.† It is said to be a regular vernal migrant to the county of Wicklow, the Vale of Avoca (a name familiar to the lovers of the "Irish Melodies,") being one of its favourite haunts. This bird is not uncommon, and breeds annually in some heathclad mountains near Clonmel; it seems to be very generally distributed in the county of Wexford, preferring for its abode the lower declivities of rocky mountains where fern and heath abound. About the 1st of May, it arrives there, and from its note has obtained the name of Spinner.§ It is occasionally shot in the neighbourhood of Bandon, county of Cork; and is said to breed on the mountains above Blennerville, county of Kerry.|| A young plantation of limited extent, on the high banks above the river Blackwater, near Youghal, was pointed out to me by Mr. R. Ball, in July, 1834, as annually resorted to by these birds. In three specimens sent to him from this locality, the remains of the ghost-moth (Hepialus Humuli) only were found; one stomach containing nine of these insects. When visiting the lakes of Killarney, with that gentleman, in July, 1834, we had the gratification of seeing three nightjars hawking about in company, as we passed from the upper to the lower lake, near the highly picturesque mountain called the Eagle's Nest. The white markings * Rev. George Robinson. + Mr. J. V. Stewart. Mr. R. Davis. Mr. R. Chute. on the tail of one,-said to denote the male bird,-were quite conspicuous in the twilight. On the following evening we saw another between Innisfallen and Ross Island. Dr. J. L. Drummond informs me, that when H.M.S. San Juan (of which he was surgeon) was anchored near Gibraltar, in the spring of the year, a few nightjars flew on board. During the passage of H.M.S. Beacon, from Malta to the Morea, in April, 1841, some of these birds appeared on the 27th about the ship and alighted. We were then about 50 miles from Zante (the nearest land) and 60 west of the Morea. They came singly, with one exception, when two appeared in company. A couple of them were shot in the afternoon. A few others had been seen about the vessel on the two or three days preceding. On the evening of the 1st of June, two were killed, and others seen, in the once celebrated but now barren and uninhabited island of Delos. White, in his History of Selborne, gives an extremely interesting account of the nightjar; Sir Wm. Jardine very fully notes its various modes of flight; in Macgillivray's British Birds, an ample description appears from the author, to which are added valuable contributions from Mr. Harley and Mr. Weir; the observations of the former having been made near Leicester; those of the latter at Bathgate, Linlithgowshire. The species has commonly been seen by a sporting friend, about the wooded banks of the river Stinchar, in Ayrshire. Note to p. 206. Blue Tit, Parus cæruleus.-Since the account of this bird was printed off, a very beautiful variety, worthy of especial notice, has been kindly brought to Belfast for my examination, by the Rev. G. Robinson of Tandragee. It was shot in a wild state in the county of Armagh, in company with others of its species. It does not retain any of the ordinary colour. The entire under surface and the back, are of the richest canary yellow, with which the upper portion of the wings also, is partially tinged. The tail is pure white. The few first quills are white, the succeeding ones pearl-grey, but of a darker shade at the tips. The head is singularly parti-coloured with white, blue, greyish-brown, and canary-yellow. Bill, legs, and feet, of a whitish hue. Having now disposed of the Irish species of Insessores, it may be desirable to offer a few brief remarks on the birds of this Order which are found in Great Britain, and not in Ireland. Occasional notices of some of them have already appeared in connection with the Irish species to which they are most nearly allied, but all will be here brought together. Species obtained in Great Britain and not in Ireland. It is worthy of special remark, that all of the regular annual visitants are summer birds. Among the occasional visitants, are winter as well as summer migrants. Resident Species. The Crested Tit is confined to Scotland, and has not been found southward of the neighbourhood of Glasgow ;-the Cirl Bunting inhabits the more southern, and is very rare in the northern, counties of England: a single individual only has been seen in Scotland, near to Edinburgh ;-the Dartford Warbler frequents the south of England chiefly, but has been obtained as far north as Leicestershire;-the Tree Sparrow is rare in most of the extreme southern counties of England, and found northwards to Northumberland;—the Nuthatch and Green Woodpecker inhabit the greater part of England and Wales; the latter bird becoming more rare northward in the former country;*— the Lesser-Spotted Woodpecker is found in most of the English counties, but seldom in the more northern. None of the last five species has been observed in Scotland. Regular annual summer visitants. The Wood Wren is rather generally distributed over England and Wales, inclusive of the most western parts, and northward "to the middle districts of Scotland." The Tree Pipit frequents suitable localities throughout England and Wales; three individuals have been obtained in Scotland. The Lesser Whitethroat is found pretty extensively to the north of England, but is "rare in Cornwall and Wales;" very few have been met with in Scotland; and only in the south. The Wryneck is diffused somewhat generally over England, but particularly over the south-eastern counties; a few have been seen in Scotland. The Red-backed Shrike frequents England rather commonly to the west and north inclusive. The Pied Flycatcher is found from south to north of England, but "rarely in Dorsetshire and Devonshire," according to Yarrell, who does not name Wales as visited by the species, nor is it included in the Cornwall * Macgillivray, (B. B. vol. iii. 94) to whom, as well as Sir Wm. Jardine, this bird is not known north of the Tweed. |