190 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



was for the day — I merely took two. I must say 

 I enjoyed that day's outing immensely, especially 

 the boating part of it, as these canoes seemed such 

 cranky sort of things, that unless you sat quite in 

 the centre and perfectly still, over you'd go, for the 

 slightest derangement of balance to one side or the 

 other would be sufficient to capsize the canoe. 



In his excellent book, " Bird life on the Border," 

 Mr. Abel Chapman says of this ^species, "In the 

 morning they come in by companies and battalions, 

 but at night they go out in a solid army ; and a fine 

 sight it is to witness their departure. The whole 

 host, perhaps ten thousand strong here massed in 

 dense phalanxes, elsewhere in columns, tailing off 

 into long skeins, v's or rectilinear formations of 

 every conceivable shape, but always with a certain 

 formation, out they go. While their loud clanging 

 honk, honk, and its running accompaniment of lower 

 croaks and shrill bi-tones resound for miles around," 



I stayed a few days longer at Castle Gregory 

 where I got one or two more specimens which will 

 be recorded in their proper places. 



I believe these Brents were got in December 

 1893. Since then, poor old O'Donnell has joined 

 the great majority. 



