Wood Sandpiper in Co. WaterfordAuthor(s): E. WilliamsSource: The Irish Naturalist, Vol. 8, No. 10 (Oct., 1899), p. 231Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25521666 .

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{1999 ANotes. 23

Calls of Owls.

Referring to C. B M.'s nmention of the above on page I84 of the current

volume, I have syllableised the shriek of the Barn Owl at different t,imes a,- " schkree-r " and " ske-r-arke." The snore of the young I render

,as "a4kee-rep " or " see-rep " pronounced as if with an indrawn breath.

The resemblance to a snore increases as the nestlings grow older. I have a note giving the call of the young Tawny Owl as a kitten-like

" mew."

I should be glad of opinions as to the correctness of my renderbng of

the Barn Owl's calls, and also as to whether the mewing is a call used by

the young of both the Tawny and Long-eared Owl. I should be glad of any observations which would act as "aids to

identification without slaughter," with the view of incorporation in the next edition of my Dictionary of Bird Notes.

CHAS. IOUIS HlTT. Springfield, Brigg.

Wood Sandplper In Co, Waterforcle

A Wood Sandpiper (Totanus Sla;eola) was obtained on the 26tb. of

August, by Mr. J P. Knox, on the Back Strand, Tramore, Co. Waterford.

This is the fifth recorded occurrence of this species in Ireland, tEhree having been obtained in Calary Bog, Co. Wicklow, and one near Lough Cullin, Co. Mayo, Sept. 5, i898.

Dublin.

Wood Pigeon cooing by Moonilght.

A Wood Pigeon seemed to have mistaken the bright moonlight of the night of February 26th for daylight, as I heard him cooing in the trees near the house here at 10.45 p.m, Again on the night of April 23rd one was cooing very distinctly at I1.20 p m. Lastly on August 25th the moonlight seemed to have an exciting effect on a bird of this species, for he began to coo loudly at xI p.m., but only continued to do so, as far as I am aware, for a few minutes. I am a good deal

away from home, sa that it is possible that the habit of cooing at night

is more universal among Wood Pigeons than I imagine it to be. My experience is not an isolated one for this couinty, as Mr. C. B. Moffat,

to whom I mentioned the subject, wrote me that at Ballyhyland, near Eaniscorthy, "the Wood Pigeons cooing at night have been one of the sensations here this spring. When I came down here on March 25th I was told that they were to be heard at all hours, and the

statement was fully confirmed to me the same night, when I heard them

in full voice at twenty minutes after midnight I have heard them at it

frequently since." (Lit. of r6th May, T899). I may add that the thunder -and heavy rain which we experienced here from about S to 9 a.m. on

August x8th, 1898, in no way interrupted the cooitng of Wood Pigeons, whose voices could be very distinctly heard between the claps.

C: Z. II. HBARRzn.HAMIzrOz.

Kilmanock, Arthurstown, Co. Wexford.

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