262 The Irish Naturalist. 



I saw an enormous and ver>^ dense assemblage of Gulls breed- 

 ing on the i5tli April, 1893. Their nests were all on tussocks 

 of sedge, standing out of shallow, muddy water, through 

 which a punt was pushed. Few nests then contained eggs, 

 though some clutches were complete. At Killeenmore Bog, on 

 30th April, 1892, many clutches were complete, but few sat 

 upon. On the sheltered and crowded islets of I^ough Ke}^ 

 many young Gulls were able to swim on 12th June, 1891 ; but 

 on the exposed stony islands of I^ough Allen the eggs were 

 not much incubated on 3rd June, 1893, and there were no 

 3^oung. Some nests were placed here within the shooting- 

 shelters, built of loose stones ; and on lyough Derg I saw a nest 

 on top of a tall, conical stone beacon, on an island, while others 

 were on boulders and masses of stone standing in the water. 

 It is a very pretty sight to see these Gulls chasing moths in 

 the twilight over a grass field. They continue to do so until 

 eleven o'clock, if not later. I have met with Black-headed 

 Gulls in April, May, and June, on "^I^ough Erne, I^ough Ar- 

 row, "lyough Key, '^ough Allen, lyOUgh Forbes, I^ough 

 Oughter, *Lough Gowna, Lough Ree, the Shannon near 

 Banagher, '^Killeenmore Bog, ''^'Lough Derg, and ''^marshes near 

 Granston. They are also reported to breed elsewhere, in 

 Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway, Westmeath, 

 King's Co., Queen's Co., and Tipperary. 



The Lksskr Bi^ack-backbd GulIv I have only met with 

 breeding on lyough Erne, except on the sea-coast ; yet I have 

 met with it on so many lakes and rivers that I am convinced 

 it must have many inland breeding places. I visited lower 

 IvOUgh Erne on 9th June, 1891, and on reaching a lonely island, 

 whose centre was covered with luxuriant natural wood, with a 

 wide, flat, stony beach, I found some twelve or fifteen pairs of 

 this species nesting among the large stones on this beach, the 

 nests being formed of dried flags and grasses. This colony must 

 have been robbed, as some nests contained eggs far advanced 

 and chipping, others but one or two fresh eggs ; no other 

 species of gull bred there. Mr. R. E. Dillon has shown me 

 an ^%% answering to this species, taken on a bog near Clon- 

 brock, in eastern Galway, and I have twice seen Lesser Black- 

 backs on Lough Iron, Westmeath, in June, where the keeper 

 informed me that he saw their 3^oung following them about 

 the lake. I saw a pair in adult plumage on Lough Derg, on 



