412 LAUIDiK. 



birds on the wing in Bautry Bay, which I have no doubt were of 

 this species. We had no gun on board, or we should have had 

 no difficulty in procuring severaF' (p. 16). This gentleman sub- 

 sequently mentioned to me that one was obtained in Cork harbour 

 in April 1846, and another in the same month of 1848. 



Mr. R. Chute informed me in 1846 that this shearwater breeds 

 on the larger Skellig Island off the coast of Kerry, whence a spe- 

 cimen was sent to him in July 1850. They are called night- 

 birds, from the circumstance of their being only seen at night 

 about the rock. He remarks that when spending two months 

 at Dingle, in the summer of 1843, he was often out boating on 

 very fine days, and always met with these birds either on wing or 

 basking in the sun upon the water. He thinks they may breed 

 on one or two other islands off the coast of this county, but only 

 on that named are they positively known to do so. They have 

 been stated to nidify on the coast of Mayo (but the precise locahty 

 was not mentioned). The young birds were sought for as food 

 by the country-people.* 



In Willughby's 'Birds' (1678), it is recorded of this species, 

 whicli is called " the puffin of the Isle of Man ; VuJJi'mis anglo- 

 riwi" — " At the south end of the Isle of Man lies a little islet, 

 divided from Man by a narrow channel, called the Calf of Man, 

 on which are no liabitations, but only a cottage or two lately built. 

 This islet is full of conies, which the puffins, coming yearly, dis- 

 lodge and build in their burroughs. ^ * -s^- When they 

 [young] are come to their full growth, they who are entrusted 

 by the lord of the island — the Earl of Darby — draw them out of 

 the coney -holes. -^ -^ * They usually sell them for about 

 uinepence the dozen, a very cheap rate. ^ ^ -J^- We are told 

 that they breed not only on the Calf of Man, but also on the Silly 

 Islands. Notwithstanding they are sold so cheap, yet some years 

 there is thirty pounds made of the young puffins taken in the 

 Calf of Man : whence may be gathered what number of birds 

 breed there'' (p. 333). This, written more than 160 years ago, 

 suggests the cause of the poor birds deserting the islet. 



* Mr. il. J. Montgomery ; — the late Mr. R. Glenuon, jun., was his informant. 



