136 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



I have shot an adult Red-throated Diver as early 

 as the 27th of February with a perfect red neck 

 the only one I ever saw with a semblance of 

 this colour in early spring. But I have more than 

 once seen them in January with a dark shade 

 under the throat ; on one occasion so much so 

 as to lead me at first sight to think it was the 

 Black-throated species I had obtained. This dark 

 shade is probably the red colour in embryo. I have 

 obtained females of both the smaller Divers with 

 coloured necks, though less vivid than in the males. 

 The female Great Northern, however, closely re- 

 sembles the male when adult, if not exactly. 



A local name for the Red-throated Diver is 

 Hollands Auk, the derivation of which I could 

 never discover, unless it be regarded as a species of 

 Auk which conies to us from Holland, and would 

 be well known to the fishermen of the North Sea. 



THE GANNET (Sula bassana) is capable of taking 

 a still wider gulp than the Divers, for the upper 

 mandible in this bird is hinged near its base, and 

 enables the bird to open the mouth for a larger 

 morsel than it otherwise could do. The mouth of a 

 Cormorant, though not possessing so wide a gape 

 as a Gannet's, reaches beyond the eye. 



In Ireland the Gannet has been ascertained 

 to breed on the Fastnet Rock, Cape Clear, 

 as well as on the Skelligs. It also breeds 

 numerously on the Bull Rock at the entrance of 

 Bantry Bay. There are three rocks here, the 

 " Bull," " Cow," and " Calf," lying a few miles off 

 Dursey Island, the westernmost land of County 

 Cork ; the " Bull," on which the Gannets breed, 



