366 f#E ZOOLOGIST. 



pair of Common Terns were also breeding on Lough Boola; 

 I took an addled egg of the former, and two fresh eggs of the 

 latter. 



On the 14th June, when crossing the desolate wilderness of 

 the North Mayo Moors from Belmullet to Ballina, after I had 

 passed the river that bounds the Baronies of Erris and Tyrawley, 

 I came in sight of a lake named Dahybawn, containing an island 

 of two acres in extent. This island stood some twenty feet above 

 the water, and along its southern side was an escarpment, on the 

 face of which was a very large colony of Common Gulls sitting on 

 their nests, which dotted the bank : there may have been about 

 fifty nests. The male birds were flying to and fro for food, some 

 of them searching for it unsuspectingly beside the road by which 

 I passed. This colony was far larger than those I had seen in 

 Connemara, and may be the largest of the species in Ireland. 



On Errisbeg Mountain I saw a Merlin, and along its lower 

 slopes I frequently met with Golden Plover in their breeding 

 plumage, the male standing erect on a tussock keeping sentinel, 

 and by his whistle giving warning to the female of the intruder's 

 approach, then with outspread tail taking flight to another spot 

 on ahead, where the whistle was renewed. I again met with 

 Golden Plover on my walk to Lough Boola. They seem to breed 

 commonly on the moors and mountains of Connemara, while a 

 pair of Common Sandpipers make their home on every lake, even 

 on the remote island of Inishbofin. 



I was told by a peasant that on an island in Lough Athery, 

 south-east of BalJynahinch, Cormorants as well as Herons nest 

 in trees. I should like to have this confirmed. It seems probable, 

 as Cormorants can find no suitable cliffs along the coast. I was 

 told, however, that they, as well as Gulls and Terns, breed in 

 numbers on Deer Island, which is large, and rises in a hill some 

 miles off Birterbuy Bay. It is said to be the chief breeding-place 

 of sea-birds in the district. It is preserved by the owner, who 

 keeps deer on it. The stormy weather prevented me from visiting 

 it, as landing there is not easy,but as we passed it in the ' Fingal' 

 we saw many Terns flying seawards from it. We met with Black 

 Guillemots in the Connemara bays, and a female Red-breasted 

 Merganser in Clifden Harbour. 



On our voyage from Birterbuy Bay to Clifden, through the 

 heaviest sea I have ever seen, we saw Great Shearwaters on two 



