50 The Irish Naturalist. February, 



The young of birds of prey are covered with warm down, which pro- 

 tects them in the absence of comfortable nests ; but they are not pro- 

 tectively coloured, and being at first blind and helpless are fed by their 

 parents— and this is done for a long time — until they can take their own 

 prey. 



The attachment of individualb irds to the same or a neighbouring site, 

 where they nest year after year is well established. Thus, the House 

 Martin re-occupies its mud-built structure under the eaves A Water- 

 Hen's nest is known to have been annually built for twenty years in a 

 branch of a Scotch fir hanging over the lake at Cappagh ; and the 

 occupation o the Martin's breeding-place year after year has been re- 

 peatedl}' recorded, though one or other of the birds has been shot again 

 and again. 



Of birds that build in branches may be mentioned the Golden-crested 

 Wren and the Finches ; nests are placed on tall trees by Crows, Sparrow- 

 Hawks, and Herons ; Swallows, Starlings, and Jackdaws, build in roofs 

 and chimneys ; Sand Martins, Kingfishers, and Puffins in burrows ; 

 Larks, Snipes, and Ducks, among herbage on the ground ; the Nightjar 

 lays on the bare ground eggs that resemble quartz pebbles ; Ringed 

 Plovers and Lesser Terns lay among shingle or sticks; the Harrier, 

 Curlew, and Golden Plover, breed on the lonely expanse of moors or 

 mountains ; Lapwings, Black-headed Gulls, Coots, and Grebes, nest in 

 bogs, marshes, and reed-beds ; inaccessible cliffs are the strongholds of 

 Ravens, Peregrines, Gulls, and Auks ; while Choughs and Rock Doves 

 resort to the dark recesses of caves opening on the sea. 



Of domed nests, the eggs in which are covered by a bower or roof, 

 maybe cited those of the Chiff-chaff, Wren, Long-tailed Tit, and Dipper. 

 The last resembles a mossy boulder or mass of waste material on the 

 river bank. Our only pendent nest is that of the Golden-crested Wren, 

 which is hung among the tassels of a yew or spruce bough. The Reed 

 Warbler weaves a rocking nest between the reed-stems, which bend 

 with it in high winds almost to the water's edge. A fortified nest is 

 framed by the Magpie, which provides a covering of thorny twigs that 

 tear the hands of the bird-uester who assails it. 



The breeding colonies of Guillemots deserve special description. 

 These are on bare rocks, like the summit of Doonmore, Rathlin, or the 

 shelves of lofty cliffs, like those wonderful cliffs of Moher — which sustain 

 their teaming bird-population up to 500 feet from the sea. Guillemots 

 breed in packs, sitting at times close together, each on her single egg 

 without any nest. The egg of this bird is so shaped that it tends to roll 

 in a circle, and this must often save it from rolling off the rock. The 

 remarkable diversity of pattern and colouring in Guillemots eggs must, 

 in my opinion, aid each bird to distinguish her egg from those of her 

 neighbours ; and where there is a dense throng the eggs must be often 

 moved, so that identification would not be so easy as in the case of birds 

 which have nests, were it not that each Guillemot has her own pattern 



of ^m- 



