CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 247 



I am much more inclined to take Howard 

 Saunders's view of the cause of the Chough's 

 scarcity, for what object could there be to shoot 

 any of these birds except an occasional one for 

 Museum purposes. The egg-collector must bear his 

 share of the blame. There is another thing to be 

 considered in all this, that the Chough is a very cute 

 and wary bird, and as a rule, only frequents sea cliffs 

 and such like difficult places, so that it wouldn't be 

 many the gunner would shoot for the bird would soon 

 find a way to take care of itself. To refer now to the 

 specimens in the case, and to some particulars in con- 

 nection with obtaining them. I think the first Chough 

 I ever saw was when I went to Cahirciveen, county 

 Kerry, in the year 1896, for Snipe and Woodcock 

 shooting. I was staying at the Railway Hotel there 

 belonging to a Mr. Leslie, and one day when out 

 with one of his watchers — keepers, as they call 

 themselves, though they are nothing of the sort — I 

 came across several Choughs that had come inland 

 from the sea cliffs and were in some pasture-lands 

 in the company of either Rooks or Jackdaws. 

 Although these pastures were encompassed by stone 

 walls in every direction, thus affording good stalking 

 cover, I invariably found that Master Chough was 

 fully aware when I was shikarring him. I think I 

 made one or two attempts before I was successful, 

 and then the bird flew a pretty good distance before 

 coming down, but marking the spot carefully we 

 managed to find him ; he was lying dead in a peat 

 cuttino-. 



