152 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
it seems to be quite true that there are no toads, moles or snakes 
in Ireland. The Black Rat (Mus rattus) is said to be found in an 
island in Mulroy Bay, but this requires confirmation. 
Donegal can give a good account of birds, from the lordly Eagle 
downwards. The Golden Eagle has been often shot, and some- 
times captured alive. The Peregrine Falcon and Merlin have 
been kept for long periods in confinement; and some have suc- 
ceeded in making pets of the Barn and the Tawny Owl. There is 
a sufficient variety of song birds to keep up an interest in these 
charming neighbours. The Song Thrush (Turdus musicus) makes 
musical the dawn and gloaming from February till the middle of 
April: one fine performer which sings in a horse-chestnut in the 
garden brings flocks of the villagers specially to hear what they 
call the “Irish Nightingale.” The Wren, Bullfinch and Swallow 
build about the houses, as do numerous Blackbirds; and in 
winter may be seen every day the Common Crane,* the Waterhen, 
and the Cormorant, and sometimes the gleam of the Kingfisher may 
be marked in his swift flight up the stream. Wigeon, Teal, and 
Bernicle Geese frequent the muddy flats of the Swilly in winter, 
and are shot in numbers by those enthusiasts who choose to lie out 
all night in a flat-bottomed boat. 
By the student of antiquity the County Donegal is held in 
reverence as the birth-place of St. Columb, and numerous are the 
legends connecting him with every hill and lough. The island of 
Tory is said to have been the scene of his missionary labours and 
miraculous exploits; but be that as it may, it is an island full of 
interest to the antiquary. Besides the old croms and round towers, 
which have been so carefully built that they resist effectually the 
climatic influences, and justify the poet in speaking of them as 
“the conquerors of time,” the crannoges, or lake dwellings, which in 
the earlier periods of Irish history were preferred by the Irish chiefs 
to buildings on the mainland, are objects of great interest. The 
drainage of lands, which has been going on for the last few years, 
has revealed many of these old dwellings, long lost to sight, and 
at Portlough, four miles from Ramelton, one has recently been 
revealed which affords a fine example of the nature and uses of 
these settlements. The shell-mounds, which are common in the 
district. of Faunett, are of considerable interest: they are invariably 
* The bird here intended is the Heron, which in many parts of Ireland is called 
the Crane.—Ep. 
