1 88 The Irish Naturalist. 



more artistic than those of the Peewits, but still can hardly be 

 called " things of beauty." They are slightly built of dry 

 grass, and are placed in the centre or by the side of a fairly 

 large tuft of grass. The nest is very hard to find, although 

 the old birds alwa3's betray its presence by dashing overhead 

 and uttering their loud alarm notes "tuhu — tu hu." From 

 this cry the bird receives here the name of " Tu-hu" or rather 

 " Big Tu-hu," the Dunlin and Ring Plover being called the 

 "Wee Tu-hu." 



I have a most interesting note which shows the care the 

 Redshank takes of its 3'oung. On 21st May, 1891, I 

 was working the slobland with Mr. Gibson and Mr. Bryson. 

 We were most anxious to find a Redshank's nest, but 

 feared we were too late for eggs. A pair of birds were 

 however dashing about overhead, and every now and then one 

 of them dropped to the ground some way off. We felt sure 

 that the young birds were near, and for some time we marched 

 up and down the ridges, not missing a single yard of ground. 

 Still no nest or nestlings were to be seen. At last, while we 

 were talking the matter over we suddenly caught sight of one 

 of the Redshanks away at the other end of the slob-ridge, 

 running across the very line of march we had taken. With 

 the bird was a little nestling, and bringing our glasses to bear 

 we saw that the old bird was leading the little one back to the 

 ground which we had just so carefully searched, so that it 

 would be quite clear of the unsearched ground when we 

 arrived at the spot. 



Among the breeding birds at Inch, the Dunwn (Tringa 

 alpina L,.), is to me about the most interesting. In summer dress 

 with richly marked back, and black-banded breast, it is very 

 beautiful, and looks so different from the plain little grey bird 

 that frequents the shores in winter. On reaching the slobland, 

 before we see the birds we hear their purring whistle. It is 

 very hard to locate the exact .spot from which the sound 

 comes. Now it seems to sound from the water's edge, now 

 from the distant fields. Thompson refers to the Dunlin's 

 song heard in spring and summer, but I cannot say that we 

 ever heard an)' notes which could be called a song. We met 

 the birds singly and in pairs, and now and then in small flocks. 

 When met with singly or in pairs they were comparatively 

 tame. The nest is very difficult to find, and it requires con- 



