BIRDS AND LIGHTHOUSES. 283 



Howth, co. Dublin. 



The keeper states the only birds that strike the 

 lantern here are Starlings, Blackbirds, and Thrushes, 

 at the beginning of winter. Holland Auks (i.e. 

 Great Northern and Red-throated Divers), before a 

 storm, seek shelter in the bay, but disappear when 

 the weather clears. He adds, what I have often 

 noted elsewhere, that a couple of these divers haunt 

 the locality throughout the winter, and seem to take 

 and keep possession of some particular part of it. 



Old Head of Kinsale, co. Cork. 



Swans are rare in this locality, but several were 

 seen in the severe frost of January 1 880-81. I saw 

 one Black one on the wing. Geese visit this head- 

 land only in exceptionally hard weather ; three or 

 four were shot in the winter 1 880-81. There are 

 great numbers of Duck and Wigeon about, but 

 they are hard to get within range of, as they rest 

 out at sea all day and only come inland to feed at 

 night. After a gale of wind, a dog caught a Shel- 

 drake on the beach, the first ever seen at this place, 

 though they are common enough at Dungarvan, on 

 the Waterford coast. The Common and Green 

 Cormorants, Manx Shearwater, Razor-bill, and 

 Guillemots, all breed here. Great Northern Divers 

 and Loons (Red-throated Divers) frequent the 

 shore and bays in the winter months, but in limited 

 numbers, for the water is too deep and rough for 

 them to fish successfully. The Hoopoe has been 



