194 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



Here, long, shelving platforms of grass upholster 

 the crags ; there, an embroidery of lichen grey 

 and amber lends a faint dash of lively colour to 

 the rocks, if you are really close to them. >Wood- 

 rush in bristling tufts thrives on its sweating flanks ; 

 mosses, ferns, and ivy strive for supremacy on its 

 rugged shoulders. A string of loughs blue as 

 turquoises nestles in the amphitheatre below ; 

 around them during summer the Sandpiper trips 

 its way as of yore. Apart from that, other bird- 

 life is scarce, even in the breeding-season. A few 

 Meadow-Pipits there are, of course ; Twites, too, 

 nest in the heather ; the Golden Plover's home I 

 have found here. But these, together with a few 

 Grouse and an occasional Kestrel, about fill the 

 list, if we except two such homely species as the 

 Wren and the Robin, both of which nest in the 

 mountain-side of all places. Of the three Eagles' 

 nests here, two are very old indeed, and one 

 especially is very easy of approach, being on an 

 enormous turf -grown platform near the base of the 

 cliff, and approached by a long, easy-shelving, and 

 broad ledge. The third, however, requires a rope 

 for its inspection, and is in a huge horizontal fissure, 

 so low, at one point particularly, that the Eagle 

 every time it visited its castle must have experienced 

 some ado to force an entrance. 



The Eagle in Erin, then, meets with no luck, 

 but even at this eleventh hour, were spirited 

 measures adopted, as they have been so success- 



