142 The Irish Naturalist. 



AN ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN DONEGAL, 

 FERMANAGH, SLIGO, AND ROvSCOMMON. 



BY RICHARD J. USSHKR. 

 (A Report laid before the Royal Irish Academy, 25th May, 1894). 



On 3otli May, 1S91, accompanied by Mr. Robert Patterson, 

 of Belfast, I drove from Donegal to Killybegs. Near Donegal 

 is Loiigli Easke, on which a colony of Black-headed Gulls 

 breed. It is in a wooded demesne, the haunt of the Goldcrest. 

 Chiff-Chaff, Long-tailed Tit, Tree Creeper, Bullfinch and 

 Nightjar, birds almost entirely absent from the bare regions 

 of Western Donegal we were about to traverse. Near Killy- 

 begs we observed Starlings breeding at Bruckliss, where we 

 were informed they had bred for the first time in 1890. 

 This spread of the Starling as a breeding species is similar 

 to the spread of the Missel Thrush earl}^ in this century, 

 whose advent into Western Donegal is remembered by Mr. 

 William Sinclair. He states that it had reached Tyrone at 

 least ten j^ears previously. Missel Thrushes breed near 

 Killybegs in sites easil}^ reached, probably from the scarcity of 

 trees. One nested among the rocks on a hill witli Hazel 

 scrub about it. ... 



At Killybegs we derived much information and assistance 

 from the kindness of our host, Mr. Arthur Brooke, whose local 

 collection of eggs give evidences of the breeding of many 

 interesting birds in County Donegal. Among these I may 

 mention Golden Eagle, Merlin, Peregrine, Ring Ouzel and 

 Chough, all from this western peninsula ; Merganser and 

 Woodcock from Lough Easke ; Dunlin from near Ardara ; 

 Common and Arctic Tern, Great Black-backed Gull and 

 Storm Petrel from islets round this coast ; Black Guillemot 

 from Horn Head; Manx Shearwater from Arranmore ; and 

 Red-throated Diver from near Dungloe. We subsequently 

 found many of these species in their breeding-haunts. We 

 found a Lesser Redpoll nesting in a willow beside a road, and 

 Mr. Brooke says it breeds commonly here. Mr. Brooke has 

 observed the Whinchat near Killybegs, and Archdeacon Cox 

 has seen it near Glenties. This is not so surprising when we 

 bear in mind that it is also a summer visitor to the neigh- 

 bouring counties of Tyrone, Mayo, and Sligo, though an 

 exceedingly local bird. 



