i897-] Knox. — Notes from a Jyip to Ireland! s Eye. 205 



Further round the island, on the north side, we found 

 a pair of Peregrine Falcons breeding, with young in their 

 nest, their abode being above a colony of Gulls, the whir-r-r 

 of the Falcons' wings as they shot downwards among the 

 Gulls being very striking to the ear. On this part of the 

 island we disturbed a few Puffins. 



After lunch we all landed, and separating, closely beat the 

 island, finding nests of the Lapwing, Shore-Ivark and Tit-lark, 

 and numbers of Ringed Plover. On the beach near where 

 it joined the sod, among the larger gravel, we came across an 

 Oyster-catcher's nest which was merely represented by a 

 slight hollow in the sand, no attempt at lining being present 

 whatsoever. 



Among the rabbit-holes on the point off which we saw the 

 Sheld-Duck, I made a careful search, and after some time 

 came across a suspicious-looking hole, having the charac- 

 teristic odour of the duck famil3^ No such thing like a spade 

 being obtainable, I set to work to excavate away the sand 

 with a small piece of board I picked up on the strand. After a 

 good deal of energy and loss of heat I was able to touch 

 something soft at the end of the hole, which proved to be 

 the female bird. Pulling her out I gave her her liberty, 

 and proceeded to investigate the nest. The nest was made of 

 bents with a lining of soft down off the bird's breast, and con- 

 tained two young birds and four eggs which were chipping. 

 Having tried to settle things as I found them, w^e went 

 some distance off, and after some time had the satisfaction of 

 seeing the female bird return to her nest. In another rabbit- 

 hole we found a Wheatear sitting ou eggs. 



As light was failing, w^e had to leave the island, after a very 

 enjo^^able day. I was quite surprised to find such an 

 interesting collection of birds breeding so close to the city, 

 and hope that this short sketch will be the means of pro- 

 tecting rather than diminishing their securitj^ 



