1912. Notes i8i 



however, I was unable to investigate matters for myself. On June nth 

 I visited the locality and saw about twelve pairs of Fulmars on or about 

 the cliffs. The majority did not seem to be breeding, but I saw two females 

 sitting on their eggs. They had scraped out a cavity in the boulder-clay on 

 narrow ledges in the steepest part of the cliff and far down. The young 

 have been successfully hatched. Although I repeatedly visited the spot 

 I never saw further indications of breeding among the remainder of the 

 birds, though they spent most of their time lying on the ledges. It is only 

 along about 400 yards of cliff that the Fulmar is to be seen, though the 

 seabird colony extends for several miles on either side. The cliff where 

 this bird breeds is about 400 feet high and very steep, and the Fulmar 

 seems to keep to those parts of it which are covered with a thick deposit 

 of rich soil, and to avoid the bare rock ledges. The nesting cavity is in no 

 way concealed and the bird is a very conspicuous object when sitting on 

 her eggs. 



C. V. Stoney. 

 Oldfield Park, Raphoe. 



Having been favoured by Mr. Stoney with information as to the locality 

 of the Fulmar colony he describes, I am able to say that it is the same as 

 that discovered last year by Messrs. Malcolmson and Green {Irish Natural- 

 ist, vol. xx., pp. 150, 151). On 8th and 9th July, 1912, I visited the 

 Fulmars' breeding cliff on the north coast of Mayo and found them 

 decidedly increased. I saw at least forty birds sitting on their ledges, 

 besides those wheeling in the air. In several cases two Fulmars sat side by 

 side, and I would ask Mr. Harvie Brown if he does not think the male 

 Fulmar will rest beside his hatching mate when not fishing, or will two 

 females hatch close together on the same ledge ? The ways of these birds 

 are new to us in Ireland. I subsequently explored all the higher cliffs of 

 Acliill and Clare Island without finding any Fulmars, though the 1,000 feet 

 cliffs on Clare Island, which I viewed from above and below, are eminently 

 suitable for them. There appear, therefore, to be but two breeding 

 locahties as yet in Ireland — one in Donegal and one in Mayo, where they are 

 increasing. Both Mr. Stoney and I have noticed breeding Razorbills 

 sitting close to Fulmars. 



R. J. USSHER. 



Cappagh, Co. Waterford. 



Golden Eagle and Fulmars in North Mayo. 



On 9th July I visited the great cliff, over 700 feet high, on the north 

 coast which has so long been tenanted by Eagles. There is a projecting 

 spur from which the cliff-face can be viewed ; as soon as I made my 

 appearance there a Golden Eagle took wing from it and, after soaring over 

 the coast to the west, where it was pertinaciously attacked by a swooping 

 Kestrel, it alighted on a bare cliff where it rested for more than an hour 

 until, on my return, it again took flight to the eastward. Its head, greater 

 wing-coverts and the proximal part of its tail were light fulvous, contrasting 



