i9oS. Patten. — Rambles on A chill hland. 197 



Leaving, tor a niomt-nt, the wild animals of the Island, my 

 attention was drawn to the extraordinary surefootedness of 

 the domestic Ass, which, encumbered with baskets laden 

 witli seaweed, and with unshod, unkempt, overgrown, 

 and crooked hoofs, marched up and down the narrow cliff- 

 paths at a rapid rate. In some instances, boys or girls 

 mounted the animals ; sometimes the owners marched behind, 

 driving the animals before them. 



Wedjiesday, September iSth. — The morning w^as beautiful. 

 With Mr. Williams, I started from the Sound at 10.30 a.m., 

 taking the mail-car for Dugort. With the exception of a few 

 Meadow- Pipits, and two Kestrels which hovered over the 

 fields in search of their prey, nothing was added to the list. 

 Indeed the paucit}' of bird-life as we traversed the main road 

 across the island--a distance of some nine miles — struck me 

 as remarkable. 



Arriving at the "Capital of Achill," we repaired to Slieve- 

 more Hotel, where I had the pleasure of making the acquain- 

 tance of Mr. Sheridan. Among his collection, he showed me 

 tlie famous x\merican Goldfinch which he captured on the 

 island. This specimen was of particular interest to me, as 1 

 had seen scores alive in Canada the previous summer. His 

 Hooded Crow was a great pet. It was in perfect plumage, and 

 had complete liberty to go where it liked : it would alight at 

 a window-pane and demolish flies, picking them off the glass 

 with great rapidity, and despising none from the Blue-bottle 

 to the tiny Gnat. In the afternoon, we noticed at Dugort a 

 great assemblage of Cormorants on the massive rocks jutting 

 out from the sea. We had a good view of these birds 

 through the binocular from the clifis above. 



Thursday, September \<^th. — We left Dugort b}^ car in the 

 morning, and returned to the Sound. In the afternoon I 

 sallied forth, and was able to evade the onslaught of the midges 

 only during a most refreshing bathe. Even while drying, the 

 little pests swarmed round, so that one's onl}'- chance was 

 to get clothed as soon as possible, and decamp. In the 

 evening, Mr. Williams took me for a ramble through Glandar- 

 ary woods. The fuchsias were in blossom, and most luxuriant, 

 but the blackberries w^ere slow to ripen, despite the genial 

 climate. We added nothing more to the bird-notes. 



A.3 



