200 The Irish Naturalist, September, 



their way over the waves towards the reef. Suddenly they 

 stopped short and dropped like stones into the water, and with 

 stretched necks and peering looks showed with what terror 

 the\- had been struck at the sight of the falcon. After a little 

 time we decide to approach the reef, not without a long and 

 tedious scramble ; half crawling, half walking, we nearly 

 reached the spot unknown to the bird, who, when about ninety 

 yards distance, rose and went off, affording us a splendid view 

 of his powerful flight and form in the air. 



Here then my notes practically come to an end, for the next 

 day saw me en route for Scotland, and though I was able to 

 return on Frida}- morning, October 2nd, and remained till 

 Monday forenoon, October 6th, when we took our final depar- 

 ture from Skerries, I was prevented from adding much more 

 to ni}' journal. When leisure allowed I watched for the 

 Swallows and noted a steady decrease daily. The same may 

 be said of the Terns ; but our little friends, the Wheatears, 

 were there to the end to receive our good wishes for a safe 

 journey across the sea. 



Summary. 



If the reader of this paper compares its contents with what I 

 published last October in the pages of the Irish Naturalist, in 

 an article entitled " Rambles on Achill Island," he will see what 

 a great difference there was in the nature and amount of 

 country explored. In Achill ni>- rambles were by no means 

 confined to the sea-coast, which in itself was very diversi- 

 fied in nature. On that island I explored mountain, bog, low- 

 lying slobland, and precipitous cliff-bound shores, and often in 

 a day's outing many miles were walked. In Skerries, on the 

 contrary', I never wandered more than a few miles from the 

 house, and the low, rock}- coast, with its coarse pebbly beach, 

 constituted the unvaried nature of my hunting-ground, the 

 only diversity being the patch of sand at Barnageara. P^ven the 

 reef known as " lyong-l^eg " was but an extension of the rocks 

 of the beach. And yet, within this limited area, a richer avi- 

 fauna presented itself not only in the greater quantity of given 

 species but also in a greater variety of species. This is par- 

 ticularly noticeable when Mr. Wilkins' list is included, even 

 when due allowance is made for the birds overlooked by me at 



