1S96. [ WiTHKRBY. — Birds of Co7i7iemara. 3 



winters they were very scarce. A few pairs of Golden Plovers 

 and innumerable Larks were nesting on this dreary expanse 

 of miles and miles of flat bog, but beyond these, and now and 

 then a Hawk sweeping by in the far distance, not a bird was 

 visible. All the bird-life seemed to be concentrated in the 

 lakes, every one ofwhich has one or more islands, and, curious 

 to say, in the midst of this treeless, shrubless waste, these 

 islands are thickly covered with heather, willows, dwarfed 

 oaks, and other trees. It would, no doubt, repay anj^one who 

 would take the trouble to explore these islands. It is, how- 

 ever, no easy matter to get out to them, as most of the lakes 

 are too deep to wade, and hidden snags make swimming to 

 them dangerous. An india-rubber boat would be valuable as 

 a means of reaching the islands. With no such adjunct I was 

 able to explore but a few out of a great number. The only 

 birds I found were Wild Duck and Teal, but my guide told me 

 that Hooded Crows and Herons used to nest on the islands. 

 I began to believe that anything might be on the islands, 

 which we could only view from a distance, as my guide's 

 invariable answer to the question '* Does such and such a bird 

 breed here ?" was, '' It moight be on the island, sor, but faith I 

 don't know !" Otters seem very plentiful here from the 

 number of their tracks, and doubtless the manj^ underground 

 channels connecting the lakes are much to their liking. A 

 Corncrake rattled incessantly all night just under my 

 window. 



At Clifden a fair absorbed my first day, and on the next I 

 visited Cruagh and High Islands. I found a small colony of 

 Great Black-backed Gulls on Cruagh, but nothing else of note. 

 On High Island Black Guillemots were breeding, and I saw 

 also a pair of both Peregine Falcons and Ravens. The latter 

 had a young one, and a skirmish between the male Peregine 

 and one of the Ravens was extremely interesting. The 

 Peregine beat the Raven at all points, whirling up into the 

 air and dashing down upon it like a stone. The Raven indeed 

 only saved itself from the Falcon's savage onslaught by 

 clinging closely to the cliff, and thus sneaking away. For a 

 long time the Falcon flew round crying shrilly as a guinea 

 pig, and whenever the Raven showed itself it made its life a 

 burden. That Raven would do well to shift its quarters. On 



