1896.] WarrKn. — The Gulls of Klllala Bay. 171 



The Herring Gui<i. {Lams argentatus) is the most numerous 

 of the large gulls on this part of the coast. They have many 

 breeding-stations on the cliffs along the North Mayo coast, 

 from Lacken Bay to Bunwee Head. Small colonies of a few 

 pairs are to be seen scattered for miles along the cliffs, while 

 the large colonies are located on the ledges and shelves of 

 Doonbrista, and Downpatrick Head, at Keadue beyond Bally- 

 castle, between Glenglosera and Belderig, Moistha Island, 

 between the last-named place and Porturlin, on Pig's Island, 

 west of the latter place, and also between it and Portacloy, 

 while a few pairs also breed on the Stags of Broadhaven. In 

 fact, there is scarcely a high cliff anywhere between Down- 

 patrick Head and Portacloy, without some Herring Gulls 

 breeding there, being almost as widely distributed as the 

 Kittiwakes. On the North Sligo coast there is a very large 

 colony — one of the largest I have seen — on Aughris Head, 

 about midway between Sligo and Killala Bays. 



The lyKSSER Bi^ACKBACKED Guiyi, {Larus fusais) is not so 

 numerous as the Herring Gull, and is seldom seen in the bay 

 or estuary, for its chief breeding station in Mayo is at present 

 on lyOUgh Mask ; though at one time it bred on I^ough Conn, 

 as mentioned to the late Wm. Thompson by Mr, B. Ball, which 

 statement was corroborated to me by my late friend, Mr. 

 Henry Knox, of Palmerstown, Killala, who told me that when 

 he was a young man and fishing on Lough Conn he found 

 large numbers of these gulls breeding on islands in the lake. 

 A pair have of late years been seen every summer about the 

 lake, but the nest was not found ; and until last summer no 

 good evidence of its breeding was had, when Mr. H. Scroope, of 

 Ballina, saw a pair of young birds in the nestling plumage, 

 following the old ones, showing that they had been bred some- 

 w^here about that lake or the adjacent Lough CuUen. 



Mr. W. H. Good, of Westport, told me that this gull bred on 

 Lough Mask in large numbers, on one of the islands, and that 

 odd pairs were scattered about through the lake breeding on 

 some of the smaller islands also, which statement I found 

 correct when visiting Lough Mask with my friend, Mr. W. 

 Williams, on the 19th of June, 1893. The gulls' island is 

 situated on the western side of the lake, opposite the Partry 

 Monastery, and is about 200 yards in length, quite low, and 

 thickly covered with rocks and large loose stones, amongst 



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