Our Visit to Holy Island in 1854, by Dr. Johnston. 43 



with wood. Some shoots from about the root of Salix 

 viminalis, had leaves which could not be distinguished from 

 those of Salix Smithiana. 



Two truant lads were bird-nesting here, and I procured 

 two eggs of the peaseweep, that we might determine for 

 ourselves whether they were equal to their epicurean reputa- 

 tion. We decided at tea, that they were. I also got from 

 these boys the vernacular names of some birds, viz. : — 



The Coot they called Bell-ducks. 



The "Water-hen „ Water-hen. 



The Shelldrake 



The Curlew 



The Wagtail 



The Sanderling 



The Grey Linnet 



The Bank Swallow 



The Swift 



The Sea Lark 



The Terns, or Teerens 



Skell duck. 



Wateries. 



Sandies. 



The Lennart. 



Butterie. 



The Martin. 



The Sea-mouse. 



The Sea-swallow. 



And they knew the stane-chacker and the black-cole-head, 

 as island birds ; and the Moonie, a small bird which I could 

 not identify. They were sure that no kind of crow built in 

 the island ; but the jackdaw had its nest about the Coves. 

 The curlew, they asserted, did not breed in the island. One 

 of the boys said that he had killed a quail at the side of the 

 Lough, this spring, with a stone. There are plenty of the 

 common domestic fowl on the island. Ducks are also 

 common, and those in the village are not seductive. A few 

 geese, with their goslings, abide about the Lough ; and at 

 the onstead there were a couple of turkeys. The pigeon is 

 also kept at the farm steading, and we daily met with the 

 flock feeding in their master's fields. Of domestic mammals 

 the islanders have the cow and its kind, the horse for 

 agricultural purposes, and a few asses, that are kept on the 

 dusty herbage that the road-side affords them. They are 

 used by the poor to bring coals from the continent, and for 

 carrying burdens from one part of the island to another. 

 The muggers who were scattered about the croft had 

 brought a couple of these animals with them. Flocks of 

 good sheep graze the old pastures, and the sunny banks 

 about the Castle afford to the lambs a favourite playground. 

 The people have a set of mongrel dogs ; and there are not 

 enough of cats, for we were told that the island abounded 

 in rats and mice. 



