248 Mr. W. Eagle Clarke on Birds 



in the public mind, witli the loss of that ill-fated liner the 

 'Drummond Castle/ in 1896. The morning, however, was 

 unpropitioiis, inasmuch as a dense sea-fog prevailed, and at 

 mid-day the passage was abandoned until the morrow. 



Fortunately at Le Conquet there is an estuary, formed of 

 the embouchures of several small rivers. Here at low water 

 there are extensive mud-flats, while several small moist 

 islands are then accessible from the shore. On these 

 attractive feeding-grounds we observed, in the few hours 

 available, Turnstones, Dunlins, Curlew-Sandpipers, Knots, 

 Redshanks, Greenshanks, Common Sandpipers, Ruff's and 

 Reeves, Whimbrels, Curlews, &c. The occurrence of the 

 Knot, Curlew- Sandpiper, &c., as birds of passage, was 

 interesting, but not unexpected, since the western shores of 

 France naturally lie in the direct course of their migrations. 

 In addition, a number of other species of minor interest 

 came under our notice ; and since the avifauna of Brittany 

 has not received the attention it deserves, these species will 

 be dealt with in the systematic and concluding section of 

 this contributi(m. 



We were under way at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 

 9th, and were soon threading our course through those rock- 

 studded and dangerous seas which lie between the mainland 

 and our island goal. A glance at the chart of these waters 

 shows that there extends from the mouth of the Gulf of 

 Brest, in a north-westerly direction, a series of islands and 

 innumerable islets, rocks, and reefs — many of the latter 

 being just awash or partially submerged. This archipelago 

 culminates in the comparatively large island of Ouessant, 

 which we call Ushant. Through the numerous straits, 

 channels, and rocky labyrinths with which the group abounds, 

 a tide rushes at the rate of fourteen knots ftn hour, rendering 

 the surface of the sea for many square miles a series of 

 races, boils, and swirls, resembling the waters of a mighty 

 torrent rather than those of the ocean. Add to this the 

 remarkably rugged outlines of the stacks and many of 

 the islets, and the quaintness that enshrouds the little 

 out-of-the-world community that dwells upon the island of 



