ro4 The Irish Naiiiralist, May, 



which rushed into the water. The female parent at once 

 flew out in front, displa3dng herself before me. She had the 

 broad bill and pale blue wing coverts of a Shoveler. Near 

 this place young Shovelers were shot on nth July, 1863, as 

 recorded by Mr. G. H. Kinahan, and since then this species 

 has greatly increased as a breeding bird in Ireland. I have 

 met with it in Scariff Bay, and I was assured that it breeds 

 above Banagher, along the back rivers or side channels of 

 the Shannon. 



The Stock Dove was first noticed in the vicinity of I^oiTgh 

 Derg in 1896 by Mr. Hibbert, of Scariff, and in more recent 

 j-ears Mr. Parker has frequently found it at Castle lyOUgh, 

 where he believes it nests. This is the most western 

 district in Ireland known to me to which the Stock Dove has 

 spread. 



Travelling by boat up the Shannon, from Banagher to 

 Athlone, one sees an almost uninhabited country. There are 

 no extensive swamps nor reed beds, but the broad river flows 

 between green "callows," which are meadowed in summer 

 and often flooded in winter, with boundless, high, red turf- 

 bogs on the Galway and Roscommon side, and in places on 

 the eastern side, too. Trees are scarce or absent. The 

 most noticeable bird in spring and summer is the Curlew? 

 which is frequently seen feeding on the river-banks or flying 

 to and fro ; it breeds on these great red bogs. Redshanks 

 are also numerous ; they nest in the callows, which are 

 full of Meadow-sweet. As the boat proceeds, the Common 

 Sandpiper starts from many a point with its clear cr}^, 

 and wdngs its way across the gliding flood. At several 

 places, chiefly above Banagher, I saw Dunlins in 

 breeding plumage, busily catering for their mates or 

 young. Black-headed Gulls occurred all along the river, 

 but not in large numbers ; they have breeding colonies 

 on the Westmeath bogs. Coots were numerous, and Dab- 

 chicks repeatedly met with, and here and there a Heron ; I 

 saw one of these chased vehemently by a I^apwing from its 

 nesting-ground. Skylarks and Corncrakes were often heard, 

 and Reed-Buntings several times, while Swifts were frequently 

 dashing pavSt. The song of the Willow-Wien, more than any 

 other sound, enlivened this great lonely river, even in parts 

 where there seemed to be hardly a willow to hold the bird. 



