204 The Irish Naturalist. [August, 



NOTES FROM A TRIP TO IREIvAND'S EYE- 



BY ERNEST BLAKE KNOX. 



In the second week of May last, accompanied by my brother, I 

 secured a boat at Howth, and crossed to Ireland's Eye. On 

 the water outside the island we observed several bunches of 

 Razorbills and Guillemots, while sunning themselves on the 

 rocks with outstretched wings were Cormorants and Shags. 

 Only one representative of the duck family did we see, a 

 common Sheld-Duck bobbing up and down in the water off a 

 sandy point studded with rabbit-holes, of which I made a 

 mental note to examine later on. 



As we rowed slowly along within eas}' distance of the shore, 

 numbers of Ringed Plover, Tit-I^arks, and a few Oyster- 

 catchers kept crossing us, seeming to resent our intrusion by 

 their piping cries. Having need of some pebbles to use with 

 a catapult against the cliffs I landed ; and while picking them 

 I found two Ringed Plovers' nests, with their usual four eggs 

 end to end. The nests were placed well above high-water 

 mark, on a part of the beach where sand and gravel were 

 fairly mixed ; each nest was a mere shallow cavity in the sand, 

 lined with little bits of broken shells and small white pebbles, 

 the white lining being quite a contrast with the surrounding 

 darker beach when the eggs were taken out. 



We then rowed round the island keeping close to the cliflfs, 

 and saw several Black Guillemots leaving their fissured re- 

 treats, which on examination proved empty, as they had not 

 as yet begun to lay. There was quite a number of Herring- 

 Gulls' nests to be seen. Two of us clambered up to the top of 

 the stack and examined several of their nests, some having the 

 full clutch— three eggs. The nests themselves showed some 

 slight difference in the materials used for their construction, 

 the bulk of each being of fine dry grass and Bracken, the 

 outer covering being either lichen or seaweed. The Gulls 

 kept flying round screaming, almost daring to attack us 

 whenever we should get on the more difficult parts of the cliff". 

 Several Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes were sitting 

 on the ledges, but laying had not become general among 

 them as yet. 



