282 FLIGHT OF BARNACLES. 



herdsman on the sand-banks apprises us of the first appear- 

 ance of a Crowour Keough.* This is the earliest woodcock 

 announced, but my kinsman has no doubt but the flight f 

 has fallen in Achil : and we shall cross in a few days, if the 

 weather answers, and try Slieve More, he says, with excellent 

 success. 



I had been some hours in bed, when I was awakened by a 

 quarrelling among the dogs, which I overheard the keeper 

 settling with the whip. I remained, and it is rather an un- 

 usual thing with me, a long time awake. An hour passed, 

 all was again in deep repose, and I too was sinking into 

 sleep, when a strange and unaccountable noise roused me. 

 It seemed to be at first faint and distant, but momently in- 

 creasing, grew louder and more distinct, until it passed to all 

 appearance directly above my head. The sounds were wild 

 and musical varied in tone beyond any thing I could de- 

 scribe, and continuing, until they gradually became remote 

 and indistinct, and at length totally died away. I was 

 amazingly puzzled, but was obliged to reserve my curiosity to 

 be satisfied in the morning. 



My cousin smiled at my inquiry : " And you heard these 

 strange noises as well as I ? This, if you remained here, 

 would be little marvel, as nightly the Barnacle cross the Lodge 

 in passing from one estuary to the other. There they sit 

 on yonder point ;" and, taking me to the window, I saw a 

 considerable extent of sand literally black with this migratory 

 tribe : they come here in immense multitudes, but from their 



bordered with black near the margins, and edged with white ; the quills 

 black, edged a little way from the tips with blue grey ; the under parts 

 and tail coverts, white ; the thighs are marked with dusky lines or spots, 

 and are black near the knees ; the tail is black, and five inches and a half 

 long ; the legs and feet are dusky, very thick and short, and have a stumpy 

 appearance. 



* Why this title, literally meaning " the blind cock," should be con- 

 ferred by the peasantry of Ballycroy on a bird so remarkable for the 

 extraordinary quickness of his vision, is a parodox. Such is the known 

 acuteness of the woodcock's vision, that the cover-shooter chooses a 

 masked position, or the Crowour Keough would seldom come within range 

 of the gun. 



f Flight is the term used to describe a flock of woodcocks, as they 

 arrive in this country, in their annual migration from the north of 

 Europe. 



