The Birds of the Midland Lakes arid Bogs. 263 



27th May, 1893, and others elsewhere immature ; and Mr. 

 Parker tells me that he always sees these Gulls come about 

 the I St April, and that they remain during the breeding season, 

 but disappear in winter. I have also seen them singly, or in 

 pairs, in adult plumage, on Lough Key, Lough Allen, Lough 

 Forbes, Lough Ree (two seasons Successively), on the Shannon 

 near Banagher, and again near Athlone, and on the Nore above 

 Thomastown. Their love of the offal of towns doubtless at- 

 tracted them to the last three places, but their presence in so 

 many inland places in the breeding season is significant. I 

 have never to my recollection met wdth the Herring Gull in 

 midland counties. 



The Great Crested Grebe breeds in small numbers on 

 lakes from Hillsborough, in the Co. Down, and Castle Dillon 

 Lake, Armagh, through the Monaghan lakes, and through the 

 midland counties, on lakes great and small, down to the Clare 

 end of Lough Derg, where I have taken its eggs on 27th May, 

 1893. The smaller lakes are frequented by one or two pairs ; 

 but on the larger lakes, like Lough Ree, many pairs breed, not 

 always apart from each other, for I there found two nests with 

 eggs on 7th June, 1892, in a very small lagoon, whose entrance 

 just admitted a boat, and was unfrequented. The nests were 

 flat platforms of rotten rushes, placed among beds of the tall 

 rushes that grow in the water. On Lough Ree I saw a great 

 many Grebes in different parts. I should say they have no 

 greater resort in Ireland. On Lough Iron I saw a good many, 

 and they admitted tolerably near approach without sinking 

 their bodies deep in the water, as they do when alarmed. 

 Mr. Collier, the keeper, thinks there are eleven pairs on Lough 

 Iron. I have seen their eggs from thence. Colonel Malone 

 has seen a Grebe drop two young ones that she appeared to 

 have been carrying on the water. The note of the Grebe is a 

 croak, which can be heard at a considerable distance. When 

 it dives it drawls the head back, points the bill downwards, then 

 with a stroke of the feet submerges the breast and neck, and 

 goes under without a splash. It will sometimes swim rapidly 

 in one direction, dip its bill, and then swim rapidly in another 

 direction. When watching the intruder the long white neck 

 is held erect and the tufted head is easily distinguished. 

 Grebes when approached on Lough Iron, where they are tame 

 from protection, sometimes escape by flight rather than by 



