142 BRITISH BIRDS. 



eighteen sitting birds, and remarks that there were probably 

 more out of his range of vision. All that he saw were in 

 about the same part of the cliff, and about 400 feet above the 

 water. Mr. Ussher very carefully and clearly identified the 

 birds with powerful binoculars, and afterwards had a close 

 view of several which flew near his boat, and there can be no 

 doubt that they were Fulmars. 



Mr. Ussher has been informed since his first brief report 

 of this discovery {t.c, p. 148), by Mr. Nevin H. Foster, that 

 Messrs. H. Malcomson and E. Green saw a colony of about 

 twenty Fulmars on an Ulster cliff in May of this year, and 

 were informed that these birds first appeared there in 

 1910. Mr. R. M. Barrington follows (pp. 152-154) with some 

 general remarks on the discovery, in which he points out 

 that the Hooded Crow is called " White Caurogue," which 

 might have been the origin of the name given to the Fulmars 

 by the boatman. 



The Fulmar has previously only been kno^vn in Ireland 

 as a visitor, seen frequentl}^ in the Atlantic twenty to eighty 

 miles off the western and northern coasts, and rarely coming 

 to land except when storm-driven. The extension of the 

 breeding-range of the bird to northern and north-western 

 Ireland is particularh^ interesting in connexion with the 

 increase of the bird and extension of its range in Scotland, 

 which has been noted for some years past. 



Briefly, this extension may be chronicled as follows : 

 OriginpJly confined to St. Kilda ; in 1878 found breeding 

 in Foula, Shetland, and had x:»robably done so previously ; 

 in 1891 reached the Orknej^s ; in 1897 birds seen at Cape 

 Wrath (Sutherland) were thought to be breeding; while a 

 colon}^ was certainly nesting in 1901 (and i)robably 1900), 

 on Handa (Sutherland) ; breeding about 1900 at Dunnet Head 

 (Caithness) ; some were seen on Barra in 1899, and eggs were 

 found in 1902 ; the Flannan Isles were certainly tenanted 

 in 1902, and probably some yesbvs previously ; meanwhile 

 they were spreading to several new localities in the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands, and reached Fair Isle in 1902 ; at N. Rona 

 they were established in great numbers in 1910 ; and in 1911 

 Mr. Meiklejohn recorded {supra, p. 56) a considerable south- 

 ward extension on the Scottish mainland, namely to Berriedale 

 Head in Caithness. 



It should be noted that in almost all these new breeding 

 places, a considerable increase in the birds has been recorded 

 a few years after their first arrival, so that their appearance 

 in Ireland is not unexpected. H. F. Witherby. 



