igo The Irish Naturalist. vSeptember, 



fades to a brownish black, as one is accustomed to see in 

 Guillemots obtained in winter. It is true that I got my bird 

 just at the end of the moult, and the glossy black feathers 

 showed signs of having been only lately assumed, nevertheless 

 further data on the question are required. 



Tuesday, September 15th. — The day was cold, windy, 

 and unsettled, and, at frequent intervals, there were sharp 

 showers. At 2.30 p.m. a party of us started for " Long- Leg," 

 with a view of observing the Gulls and other birds feeding in 

 the rock-pools at low water. As we wended our way along 

 the beach we observed some interesting groups of Herring- 

 Gulls, in different phases of plumage, resting on the rocks. 

 On one rock, in particular, all the available room was 

 occupied, the gulls being massed in company with 

 Oyster-catchers, Redshanks, Ringed Plovers, and a small 

 flock of immature Dunlins, but the Curlews were already 

 astir searching for food among the Fucus. Passing Barna- 

 geara we found a great company of Terns fishing, while 

 numbers of Redshanks, Turnstones and Ringed Plovers were 

 busily racing along the edge of the ebbing tide in search of 

 food. On approaching " Long-Leg,'" by way of the road and 

 cliffs, we were attracted bv the familiar discordant wail of the 

 Black-headed Gull. When this is produced in chorus by 

 thousands of voices, it becomes fairh' bewildering ; it seems to 

 permeate the atmosphere and deaden all other bird notes 

 around. At intervals, however, the more highly-pitched and 

 l^enetrating call of the Herring-Gulls resounded from out the 

 chorus, and, as we appeared, the clamorous throng practi- 

 cally ignored our presence, so intent were the competitors 

 in securing food. Seating ourselves on the cliff we watched, 

 through our binoculars, the manners of the Gulls, which, if a 

 trifle rude, were highly entertaining. The birds collected in 

 such crowds that the water of the rock-pools could not be 

 seen. Those which secured a place by swimming, stuck to 

 their position, but their attempts to demolish the myriads of 

 fry, which lay beneath their feet, were constantly frustrated by 

 the sudden descent of some of their comrades which fluttered 

 over their heads. It was a common thing to see a Gull in the 

 pool on trying to lower its head to seize a fish, receive instead a 

 stab in the back of its neck from the beak of another bird, which, 



