1896. J WiTHERBY. — Birds of Connemara, S 



Sedge-warbler were common, very far west for these migrants. 

 Yellow Buntings and Twites were also present, and of course 

 the Rock Pipit. I was surprised to find on the top of a small 

 but fairly high island a little fresh-water lake, and still more 

 surprised to find it inhabited by a Moorhen. 



I will conclude these incomplete notes with an account of 

 two interesting migrants which I found lingering in the south 

 so late in the 3^ear. Curiously enough they were both on the 

 same island (Inishdalla). The date of my visit to this island 

 was May 30, and the two species I refer to were the Turnstone 

 and the Purple Sandpiper. The first of these was represented 

 by a small flock of six birds in nuptial dress. Since they are 

 known to commence laying in the first part of June it seems 

 strange that these birds should have been in a flock on May 



30- 



Before I landed on the island I had caught a glimpse of 



what I thought must be a Purple Sandpiper, and soon after 

 landing I found two of them. Thinking that by some lucky 

 chance they might be nesting on this island, I watched them 

 for a long time, and then searched the whole island through, 

 but without success. As I spent nearly the whole day in 

 searching for their eggs, it is to be hoped that I shall be for- 

 given for shooting the birds. By this I was able to find that 

 they were a pair, and that the ovaries of the female were 

 fairly advanced. The presence of a pair of these birds in full 

 breeding plumage in a place which was apparently in every 

 way suitable for breeding purposes, seemed to me to be a 

 hopeful sign that it might some day be added to the British 

 list of breeding and resident birds. But this hope was damped 

 when Mr. Harvie-Brown pointed out to me that in the Faroes 

 this bird does not breed near the sea-level or on grassy holms, 

 but on the tops of the highest hills. Therefore, if they do 

 breed in Ireland, it would not probably be lower than 2,000 

 feet altitude. 



Altogether Connemara is not in my opinion a tempting 

 place for the ornithologist. Bird-life there is woefully scarce, 

 both in species and numbers. Kven the Hooded Crow and 

 the Redshank seemed to be absent from Connemara. 



