26 7 he Irish Naturalist. February 



The Common Sandpiper (7 ^/^?;7/5 hypoleiccus, I<inn.) is a com- 

 mon summer visitor to the mountain streams around I^ough 

 Swilly. I have only once seen it at Inch. The Redshank \^T. 

 calidris, lyinn.) breeds abundantly on the slob-lands. It leaves 

 its winter haunts along the shores during the first or second 

 week of April, and about a fortnight later the nest ma}- be 

 found, and very hard it is to find, although the old birds 

 betray its presence by dashing overhead, and uttering their 

 pleading alarm notes, '' tu-hu, hu-hu." From this cr}^ the 

 bird receives here its name ''' Tu-hu," or rather '' Big Tu-hu," 

 the Dunlin, or Ringed Plover, being called the " Wee 

 Tu-hu." 



The Greenshank (T. canesce^iSy Gmelin), is a rare winter 

 visitor, or touches on passage in early spring. The Bar-tailed 

 Godwit {Li??iosa lapponica^ Linn.) is common in spring and 

 autumn, and a few remain during winter. Of the Black-tailed 

 Godwit {L. belgica, Gmelin), I have two or three records. The 

 Curlew {Nume^iiiis arquata, I,itni.) is present in great numbers, 

 except during the breeding time. I saw a pure white Curlew 

 shot on the Foyle on 12th November, 1901. The Whimbrel (A^. 

 phcEopiis, Linn.), calls in numbers during Ma}^ and September. 



Of the Black Tern [Hydrochelidon nigra^ Linn ) I have one 

 record. Mr. H. Williams shot an immature bird at Inch 

 about 1890. The Common Terns {Steiiia finviaiilis^ Naumann) 

 are much in evidence on Lough Swilh' from middle of May 

 until October. They nest in large numbers on the Farland 

 sandbank in the freshwater at Inch. In a year of flood, as 

 in 1907, their nests have all been submerged, and the eggs 

 washed away or into the sand-holes. Then, when the water 

 subsided. I have seen new nests made higher up upon the 

 grass, and built more substantially than the first ones. But 

 one year even these second nests were swept away. The 

 Lesser Tern (5. miincta, Linn.) also breeds in small numbers 

 on this sandbank, the only case I know of this species nest- 

 ing by fresh water. All the common species of gulls are 

 found. The Blackheaded Gull [Lanes ridibi{7iduSy Linn.) is 

 very abundant ; a pair nested among the Terns in the grass 

 on the Farland sandbank in June, 1907, The Great Black- 

 backed Gull {L. 7/iari7i2is, Linn.) also nested on this sand- 

 bank. In the first week of June, 1894, Mr. John M'Connell 

 found a nest with three eggs in the grass in the centre of 



