474 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



since he speaks of a middle Skellig, as if there were three. The 

 Ordnance Map gives but two, the Great and Little Skellig, — the 

 former being 714 feet and the latter 440 feet high ; they are a 

 mile and a quarter apart. It will thus be seen that Smith, 

 writing one hundred and twenty years ago, confines the Gannet 

 to the Little Skellig. Thompson, however, quotes Mr. Chute, 

 who, in 1849, stated that " at the larger Skellig they used to 

 abound," until the lighthouse was erected there. Mr. Armstrong, 

 the Secretary to the L-ish Lights Board, informs me that this 

 was in 1826. 



Michael Shea, of Dursey Island, contractor for attending the 

 Calf Eock Lighthouse previous to its destruction in 1881. writes 

 to me that he " believes that the Gannet did not breed on the 

 Bull until after the Skellig Light was erected." 



If the Gannets ever nested on the Great Skellig, the erection 

 of the lighthouse in 1826 would certainly have disturbed them, 

 and probably caused them to desert the rock. It is noteworthy, 

 however, that Smith makes no mention of the Great Skellig as 

 a breeding-place, and that the Gannet is now confined to the 

 Lesser Skellig as in his time. He refers to " another rock on 

 the north coast of Ireland, where they alight and breed in the 

 same manner," as on the Little Skellig. Thompson is unable to 

 conjecture what rock is meant. 



The Stags of Broadhaven, oflf Mayo, are subsequently 

 mentioned by the last-named author as a reported breeding- 

 place of the Gannet on the Irish coast, his authority being 

 Mr. Townsend, who, it appears, visited that part of Mayo in 

 July, 1836. Mr. Townsend describes the Gannets and the Stags, 

 and says there " cannot be a doubt the Gannet breeds at Broad- 

 haven." Michael Duffy, keeper at the lighthouse there, which 

 is some miles distant from the Stags, wrote to me in 1882 that 

 " the Gannet does not breed on the Stags, but is to be seen after 

 herring" (see ' Report on the Migration of Birds,' 1882). It would 

 be interesting, if it were possible, to reconcile these conflicting 

 statements. 



The Calf, Cow, and Bull Rocks are generally the first land 

 sighted by the American liners on this side of the Atlantic. 

 The Calf is three quarters of a mile S.W. of Dursey Head ; a 

 mile and three quarters N.W. of the Calf is the Cow ; and 

 another mile further out lies the Bull. They are almost in a 



