Bewick's Swan on Lough Neagh in June!Author(s): Maurice CampbellSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 1, No. 13 (Sep., 1927), p. 256Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25531418 .

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256 The Irish Naturalists* Journal. [Vol. I.

BEWICK'S SWAN ON LOUGH NEAGH IN JUNE!

On June 6th this year when I was at Lough Neagh, due west of Ballin

derry, I was surprised to see a Bewick's Swan (Cygnus b. bewickii). I had a fair view of it through glasses, both swimming and flying, and do not think I can have been mistaken. I had seen, Bewick's Swan in England the previous winter, but am not familiar with the Whooper Swan.

I shall be very interested to know if anyone has seen this bird on Lough Neagh this summer, as I understand that dt is a fairly common winter visitor but does not remain in the summer. I only saw one bird; it did not appear to be injured in any way.

MAURICE CAMPBELL. 41 Pope's Grove, Twickenham.

ANOTHER GRASS SNAKE IN THE DUBLIN DISTRICT.

On 26th July last I was standing at my hall-door in the afternoon when I saw a snake moving across the lawn towards the shrubbery. Having had 6ome little experience of snakes abroad, and rather dreading them, and as

my little girl plays daily about the grounds, I did not pause to consider whether or not the snake was venomous, but hit it behind the head with a

heavy stick while it was making for the shrubs. It curled its body tightly round its head, and I noted a very disagreeable smell which I thought must come from the blood, which was flowing. I have since heard that these snakes?for mine proved to be a Grass Snake, nearly two and a half feet in

length?have the power of emitting this smell as a form of protection

when attacked. Notwithstanding that I hit it several times in order to put it out of pain it continued to writhe for over two hours. Glenfield is in County Dublin, about two miles from Bray, on high ground north of the Dargle River. Beyond the lawn in front of the house is a narrow belt of

shrubs, and beyond that again lies a grass field which extends to a deep gieh thickly covered with furze and bramble. The stream at the bottom of the

glen separates the Counties of Dublin and Wicklow. It may be of interest to state that about two years ago the cast skin of a

snake of about the same size was found in the glen. Not knowing how fast these reptiles grow I do not know whether this could have been the skin of

my specimen or not. Perhaps some reader could give me information on this

point ?

(Mrs.) HILDA DUDGEON Glei.field, Old Connaught, Bray.

[Mrs. Dudgeon's interesting account of the killing of a snake in Co. Dublin and the finding of a ekin two years previously, coupled with the records we have previously given (supra, pp. 19, 39) from the same district, suggest that the Grass Snake may very well soon be counted as a member of our fauna. Would some English reader oblige with a note on the rate of

growth and habits of this species, please??Ed.]

BRITISH PEARLS.

I was interested in Miss Nora Fisher's remarks on this subject (supra^ p. 233), but it occurred to me that she employs the term pearl in a

sense in which it is not always used. It is a question of what we mean by that word. I looked up some standard dictionaries, from

" Murray

" and the "

Century "

back to Johnson's famous work, and I find that in all, by direct statement or by implication, a pearl is defined as a separate and detached

mass of nacre secreted within the shell lound some foreign body (such as a

grain of sand)?not a nacreous excrescence upon the wall of the shell, which comes within the limits of the term mother-of-pearl, not pearl. Miss Fisher

says that, in her specimens, "

in nearly every case the pearls are attached to the shell *': these cannot rank as pearls according to the accepted definition.

Dublin. R. LLOYD PRAEGER,

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