1904. UsSHKR. — Birds met with in the Shannon Valley, 103 



Ree, as well as in most of the Irish lakes, but where the bottom 

 is rocky, as in Ivough Corrib, they seem to be absent. 



Returning towards Castle lyough we saw a pair of L,esser 

 Black-backed Gulls on Scilly Island. These Mr. Parker ob- 

 serves to arrive in early spring on I^ough Derg, where they 

 may generally be seen during the breeding season, though 

 their nest has not been found. I^esser Black-backs have nests 

 on the stony islands of Loughs Mask and Corrib, and on the 

 foreshore of an island in Lough Erne, while colonies exist on 

 inland bogs and mountains, as well as on the sea coast. 



The water birds I have described as nesting on Lough Derg 

 quit it in winter, when they perform a local migration to the 

 coasts and estuaries ; but this lake is also visited on migration 

 by Whimbrels in May, and further up, atBanagher, I was told 

 that flocks of " Gadwings" are seen on the Shannon shores in' 

 Februar}^ or March, birds larger than Redshanks, whose beaks 

 are long, like those of Woodcocks. I wish vSome resident there 

 would shoot one, and let us see if the}^ are Godwits. In any 

 case the}^ are migrants. 



Among the birds obtained on Lough Derg, which are pre- 

 served at Castle Lough, are the following marine species '.'• — 

 Scaup, Long-tailed Duck, Great Northern Diver, Great 

 Black-backed Gull, Pomatorhine Skua, and Stormy Petrel j 

 while at Bal Ivor I saw an 03^ster-catcher, which had been 

 killed on the Little Brosna, a tributary of the Shannon. 



These specimens show that even sea-birds make use of the 

 great water-w^ay of this river, which affords a route from north 

 to south, and vice ve7'sa, without passing round the stormy 

 and remote coast of western Connaught. 



While following the Galway shore of Lough Derg I saw 

 many pairs of Mergansers and some Great Crested Grebes ; 

 there were Redshanks at intervals and Lapwings, evidently 

 breeding, many Black-headed Gulls, and an occasional 

 Common Tern. At the northern end of the lake, on several 

 small islands that skirted the demesne of Lord Clanrickarde, 

 Wild Ducks had their broods, and a Mallard that I surprised 

 flapped along as if his wing were broken, evidentl}' to allure 

 me from the young. If this were his object it evinced a care 

 for his progeny with which the male duck is not credited. 

 At Church Island I started a brood of ducklings in clover 



A 2 



