ON THE COAST OF CONNAUGHT. 365 



four feet across. They had been all robbed a few weeks previously 

 by men sent specially to destroy the Herons for the sake of the 

 lake fishing. Some were empty ; in one were two eggs ; in 

 another eggs and newly-hatched young ; and in another five 

 nestlings in down, their crests of grey and white depending from 

 their heads — perfect immature Herons. These were doubtless 

 late broods, owing to the previous massacre. 



Having heard that Gulls were breeding on another lake 

 called Dulough, I visited it. It was surrounded by very wet bog, 

 and was miles from any human abode. It contained several 

 small rocky islets, on which grew a little furze, heather, and a 

 dwarf willow or two. Above the lake and on these islands were 

 a number of the Common Gull, Larus canus, whose cries as 

 I approached their breeding-place reminded me of those of the 

 Herring Gull, but were weaker and more shrill. On reaching 

 the largest of the islands I found about twenty nests on it, loosely 

 made of grass and sedge, all empty but one. This one, and the 

 nests on the other islands, contained from one to three eggs, all 

 fresh. Several of the nests were placed in all sorts of available 

 nooks and depressions in the bare rock, others among the scrub 

 and stones, and one partially sheltered by a dwarf willow. This 

 was the first breeding colony I had seen of the Common Gull, 

 a bird which in the south and east of Ireland only visits us during 

 the storms of winter, and which does not appear to have been 

 recorded as breeding in Co. Galway, though its southern breeding 

 range is known to extend to one of the islands of the Kerry coast, 

 which is its most southern breeding-place in Europe. 



Next day, 10th June, we anchored on the eastern side of 

 Birterbuy Bay, and I visited a large lake called Lough Boola, 

 which contains many islands of various sizes, chiefly rocky. On 

 these, and flying about the lake, were many Common Gulls. 

 I visited several islands, and having found fresh eggs on Dulough 

 the previous day, I was not prepared to find, as I did, the clutches 

 I took on Lough Boola ready to hatch. In one nest a young 

 Larus canus had just escaped from the shell, and further on a 

 Gull, that evidently had young at hand, alighted on the water 

 before me in great excitement to lure me along. The nests were 

 placed, not in the deep vegetation, such as furze and grass, but 

 on the edges of this around the islets, usually on the north-east 

 or most sheltered side. A pair of Black-headed Gulls and a 



