286 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



species when hake-fishing off Cork Harbour. 

 Again, on the 22nd of August (another year), this 

 gentleman found a young Great Shearwater thrown 

 up by the surf dead on the beach near Down- 

 patrick Head, county Mayo. Mr. Chute, of Chute 

 Hall, has two in his collection, shot on the coast of 

 Kerry, at the Skelligs ; and Mr. A. G. More,* of 

 the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, informs me he 

 has recently obtained a couple that belonged to the 

 late Mr. Andrews, a well-known Irish naturalist. 



Mr. Lloyd Patterson procured one in Belfast 

 Bay in 1869. Mr. Nelligan, of Tralee, who sails a 

 good deal in summer about the western coast of 

 Ireland, says, " I am confident that the Greater 

 Shearwater is to be found on the Skelligs and Blas- 

 quets. I feel sure I have seen the bird on the 

 wing about these islands." Mr. Warren says, " Most 

 ornithologists dismiss the idea of this bird breed- 

 ing on the Irish coast," but adds, " that he cannot 

 share that view, until the Blasquets, Skelligs, Stags 

 of Broadhaven, and other remote places have been 

 properly explored by competent observers." The 

 nest of such a rare species as this would be difficult 

 to find. The birds would never show till dusk, and 

 the males keep several miles at sea. At night, 

 judging by the habits of the Manx Shearwater, 

 they come in, either to bring food to the females, or 

 to take their turn on the nest whilst their mates go, 

 perchance, in search of food. Deep in a crevice or 

 hole, a pair of Manx Shearwaters may, at night, 



* Mr. Chute having sent these birds for inspection to Mr. More, 

 one of them has been discovered by him to be a specimen of the 

 Sooty Shearwater, a bird that has not before been recorded in 

 I reland. 



