Clare Island Survey — Aves. 20 23 



shot a Hoopoe during his stay on the Blaskets in September, 1876 ; and 

 others have been obtained on or near the coasts of Donegal, Galway, 

 Clare, and Kerry, though the west coast is visited less frequently than 

 any other in Ireland. 

 Cuculus canorus, Linn. Cuckoo. — Common on Clare Island ; not shy ; 

 alighting on walls, a young Cuckoo was seen on a boulder fed by a Pipit. 

 First heard by Hammond on 20th April, an early date, though matched 

 at Eathlin and Aranmore; and it was seen at Killybegs on 11th April 

 (A. Brooke). The Cuckoo is a common breeding-bird on the neighbour- 

 ing mainland and on Achill ; it is much in evidence in the bare coast 

 districts of western Ireland, as in Donegal, the barony of Erris, 

 Connemara, and the Dingle peninsula in Kerry. It breeds commonly on 

 Aranmore, Inishbofin, and the Aran Islands, visiting on migration the 

 remoter rocks, such as the Skelligs and Blaskets. 



Strix fiammea, Linn. Barn Owl. — A few are resident at Westport ; but this 

 species seems scarce and exceptional on the west coast. It has, how- 

 ever, been observed at Valencia : and Patten saw one fly from the sea to 

 a crevice in the cliffs of Dunmore on the Dingle peninsula, where it was 

 caught. 



Asio otus (Linn.). Long-eared Owl. — Breeds in Glendarary wood, Achill, 

 where more than one has been shot (B. B. Sheridan). It becomes a common 

 resident further east, about Ballina and Ballinrobe, also at Ballynahinch 

 in Connemara, and a pair breed on Lough Doon, in western Donegal ; 

 but though several other localities near the west coast, such as Dingle, 

 could be named, they afford wooded retreats, and from bare coasts and 

 islands this bird seems to be absent. 



Asio accipitrinus (Pallas). Short-eared Owl. — Winter visitor to Clare 

 Island, Achill, the Mullet, and the bare moorland districts of the west 

 coast in Donegal, Mayo, Connemara, Kerry, and west Cork ; and round 

 Ireland generally it occurs more frequently in the mountainous, maritime 

 counties. In some winters there seems to be a much greater immigration 

 of those birds than in others. 



Nyctea scandiaca (Linn.). Snowy Owl. — McCabe states that this bird has once 

 been seen under Croaghmore. It has been seen or obtained fourteen or 

 fifteen times on the seaboard of Co. Mayo, that is on Achill, the Mullet, 

 Blacksod Bay, and the north coasts ; Donegal has five occurrences, and 

 other counties one or two each. This Owl has chiefly been met with from 

 November to March ; but one was shot near Belmullet on 21st July, 

 1900. The specimen figured (Plate IV, fig. 2) is from western Mayo, 



