THE MANX SHEARWATER. 409 



of Ireland, on the 16tli of July, 1840, observed three shear- 

 waters ou wing near to him, which he believed to be of this 

 species. He considered them to be of larger size than the 

 Manx shearwater, whose appearance on wing was familiar to him, 

 from his having often seen it when crossing the sea from Dubhn 

 to English ports. In plumage, too, they were remarked to be 

 somewhat different from that bird. 



On the 24th of August, 1849, Mr. E. Warren, jun., when hake- 

 fishing, on the Maid, about three miles oil' Cork harbour", saw two 

 of the great shearwaters, which he remarked were easily distin- 

 guished from the P. anglorum (of which numbers were seen the 

 same day) by their larger size and darker colour. 



This species is known only as visiting the coast, and not as 

 breeding in any of the British Islands. In Scotland it has 

 not been observed (Jard. Macg.) and very few individuals have 

 been ascertained to visit the coast of England, with the exception 

 of Cornwall, where Mr. Mitchell believes that it " appears pretty 

 regularly every autumn." He was informed of its being a 

 constant visitant in the latter part of autumn to the SciUy Islands. 

 The geographical distribution of this shearwater seems yet to be 

 very imperfectly known. Even in Iceland, according to Eaber 

 (as quoted by Yarrell), it is not known to breed, and is very scarce. 



THE MANX SHEARWATEE. 



Puffinus angloruMy E^ay. 



Is a regular summer migrant to some parts of the coast. 



Judging from its being enumerated in the scanty catalogues pub- 

 lished within about the latter liaK of the last century, the species 

 was then more common on oui' coasts than it has been of late 

 years, though no Irish breeding-station seems to have been known. 

 Harris, in his 'History of Down' (1744), observes, that "it fre- 

 quents the Ardes, and perhaps other coasts of the county.''' 

 Smith, in liis ' History of the county of Waterford' (1745), says, 

 ■'These we have on the coast, but whether they breed here or 



