556 PUFFINID.E 



fully feathered. It takes to the water early in August, 

 having become very fat ; this condition is manifest even in 

 the downy stage. 



There are several breeding-stations south of the Isle of 

 Man, notably on the islands off Pembrokeshire, on Lundy, 

 and on the Scilly Islands. It would appear that this species 

 does not breed anywhere along the eastern side of Great 

 Britain. 



On many of the Scottish Islands, including the Inner 

 and Outer Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the Shetlands, it 

 nests abundantly. 



In Ireland, it breeds on many of the islands off the 

 north, west, and south coasts, and more sparingly on the 

 east side. 1 



I found the Manx Shearwater extremely plentiful in 

 summer off the Kerry coast, where the largest Irish colonies 

 exist. Regarding its distribution as a breeding-species 

 round the Irish coast, Mr. Ussher states, ''There are prob- 

 ably many unknown breeding-haunts on remote spots, 

 especially in the West, as a bird which never shows itself by 

 daylight on land is difficult to discover ; but as evidence of 

 its general distribution in June and July, I may mention 

 that during the cruise of Mr. H. Evans's yacht " Aster " in 

 1899 Mr. Barrett-Hamilton noticed some on every section 

 of the Irish coast " (' Birds of Ireland,' p. 392). 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Manx Shear- 

 water breeds on the Faroes, and is common in the south- 

 west of Iceland ; it may also be met with along the 

 Norwegian coast and the North Sea generally. It is dis- 

 tributed over the Atlantic in summer, though along the 

 American side it would seem that it is rare. 2 Southward it 



1 On May 15th, 1889, a man brought me a Shearwater which he 

 pulled out of a hole on Bray Head, co. Wicklow. On dissection I found 

 an egg ready for expulsion with the shell fully formed. This appears to 

 be strong evidence that the bird was taken from its nesting-burrow, and 

 it is a matter of regret that it was not captured some hours later when 

 the egg would have been laid, and another breeding-locality added to the 

 few on the mainland on the east coast of Ireland. 



2 Mr. Saunders' remarks (Man. Brit. Birds, 2nd Edit., p. 742) that 

 he saw two birds, which might have been Manx Shearwaters, outside 

 the Straits of Belle Isle, on August 13th 14th, 1884. On August 15th 

 16th, and on the return journey on September 3rd 4th, 1906, I passed 

 through the Straits, outside of which were large numbers of Great 

 Shearwaters, and not a few Sooty Shearwaters, but I failed to detect 

 ii single Manx Shearwater among their number. 



