8 Mr. W. H. Turle— ^ Visit 



Phalacrocorax graculus. 



We took some nests of the Shag on Inishnabro. They were 

 likewise common ou all the other islands. 



PUFFINUS ANGLORUM. 



The Manx Shearwater is said to breed in abundance on 

 Inishnabro (Payne-Gallwey^ 'Fowler in Ireland/ p. 287), 

 but neither on my visit to this island in 1889 nor in 1890 was 

 I able to discover the slightest evidence that this is the case. 

 As we neared Inishvickillane in the dusk of the evening, we 

 heard the well-known cry of this bird, but failed to find 

 a colony of them, though we spent many hours in the search. 

 I obtained one solitary egg, which I found in digging out a 

 Puffings egg from down a rabbit's hole. There are plenty of 

 Shearwaters on the Little Skellig, but their great breeding- 

 grounds are on Puffin Island, between the Little Skellig and the 

 mainland. This island ought to be called Shearwater Island, 

 rather than Puffin Island. I was astonished at the enormous 

 number we found nesting ; they seem completely to have 

 taken possession of the island, and far predominate over the 

 Puffins ; indeed, the whole of both sides of the island was 

 inhabited by them. They lay only one egg, some con- 

 siderable distance down their burrows ; several which I dug 

 out were four feet from the entrance. They make no nest, 

 but lay their egg on the bare ground. In every case where 

 I took an egg the old bird allowed itself to be lifted off the 

 egg upon which it was sitting. These birds are never seen 

 at their breeding-grounds in the daytime. 



SULA BASSAXA. 



The Gannet used to breed on the Bull Rock in 1884 in 

 great numbers (Barriugton, 'Zoologist,' 1884, p. 477), but 

 in consequence of the erection of a new lighthouse, which 

 involved the blasting of rock, they deserted it. They seem 

 to be all now concentrated on the Little Skellig, which has 

 probably become their sole breeding-place on the Irish coast. 

 As we approached this curious pinnacle-shaped rock,thousands 

 of Gannets floated over our heads, their white plumage 

 showing to wonderful advantage iu the sun. As we neared 



