1900.] Warren. — A Visit to Lough Erne. 2 23 



Tame vSwans are very common about the lake, nearlj^ every 

 little sheltered ba}" being tenanted by a pair and their young 

 broods, five to six being the average number of cygnets I 

 observed with each, but one pair I thought had seven. The 

 many finel3--wooded islands scattered about Lough Erne add 

 greatly to the beaut}' of its scenery, but are ver}- disappointing 

 to the ornithologist. The dearth of bird-life in some of these 

 old oak woods is remarkable, for where j'ou would expect to 

 hear the cheerful notes of the Chiffchaff or those of the rarer 

 Wood Warbler, the silence of death reigns all round, with 

 nothing to break it. I walked through one of these old oak 

 woods for a long time, and the only appearance of bird-life 

 that I saw was a solitary Woodcock rising out of the thickest 

 part, and the only sound I heard was the flap of his wings. 



In the evening, after returning to Enniskillen, I walked out 

 to Castlecoole, Lord Belmore's beautiful place, to see the 

 celebrated flock of Gre^'-lag Geese kept on the lake in the 

 demesne there for over 160 years. According to William 

 Thompson these geese had been brought there by Colonel 

 Corry (ancestor of the present Lord Belmore), about 120 years 

 before 1848. They are the true Grey-lag, and live nearly 

 altogether on the lake in a half wild state. While looking at 

 them swimming slowly about I counted twenty-three old birds, 

 but saw no young ones, w^hich probabl}' were kept out of sight 

 among the long reeds that fringed the lake. The flock, I was 

 informed b}'- one of the workmen, numbers about fort}', and 

 they would be more numerous only for the large number of 

 goslings destroyed b}^ the pike. This small lake is also a 

 favourite breeding-haunt of the Great Crested Grebe, and 

 while looking at the geese I observed eight grebes (old and 

 young) on the water. 



I was informed that on most of the lakes in Fermanaorh the 

 Great Crested Grebe breeds, wherever the}- are of any size. 

 Lough Eyes, already mentioned; although but a small sheet 

 of water, having two pair. 



Moyview, Balliua. 



A3 



