Dublin Natural'History Society. 



0003 



" To conclude. The fearlessness and curious tnaiiner of this bird, the harmless- 

 ness of its habits, the adaptive power displayed in the curious elongated valve-like 

 openinj^ of the nostrils, the absence of gape-bristles, the partial webs to its feet, the 

 dense peculiar nature of the plumage, and the general dissimilarity between it and 

 the other thrushes, form a group of characters which, taken in combination with the 

 wild and romantic nature of the scenes it mostly loves to frequent, ought to render 

 this bird as great a favourite with the field student as it generally is with the fisher 

 plying his lonely task amidst its secluded haunts, and hailing as an old acquaintance 

 the tidy little white-breasted water blackbird, as it sits jerking and posturing on a rock 

 amidst the boiling waters, swimming on the eddying current, diving beneath its 

 depths, chattering to its mate, or enlivening the mountain glen with its simple but 

 plaintive strain to the fitting and appropriate accompaniment of the ceaseless bubble 

 of the sparkling waters of the gushing mountain rill." 



The Secretary read the following communication, by G. Henry Kinahan, C.E., 

 G.S.L.:— 



Desciiplion of a Starling Roost^ at Rathkeale, county Limerick. 



" Coming home late one evening after dark, I was surprised, whilst walking along 

 the road to the north of Doohyle Lough, near Rathkeale, to hear a tremendous chat- 

 tering, which would sometimes suddenly cease, followed by a long continuous 

 whirr, like that of a strong rushing wind. It was then too dark to see anything, and 

 although I knew they must be birds, yet their kind I could not say. I could hear 

 the whirr caused by the flocks getting up nearly the whole way into Rathkeale (over a 

 mile). The next day, on reluming the same way, the noise of the preceding night 

 was fully explained by my seeing innumerable starlings congregated about the lake. 

 Some evenings afterwards I went on purpose to watch the birds. I arrived at the 

 spot about half an hour before sunset, and immediately afterwards the birds began to 

 arrive in flocks of about 300 or 400. The first flock flew round the lake, and then 

 alighted in a field to the south ; a lew minutes more and another flock arrived, which, 

 after flying round the lake, joined the first comers; these immediately rose, and all 

 took a circuit round the fields and then alighted again. Flocks now came in thickly 

 from all sides, the same performance being gone through at each arrival, until the 

 flocks began to come so fast that they had no time to remain on the ground at all. 

 The main flock then adjourned to the lake; arriving there it took tvvo or three circuits 

 of the lake, and then alighted among the reeds : the arrivals n6w were not so nume- 

 rous as they had been, but many flocks still came in, and each arrival was the signal 

 for a general move and promenade as before. This procedure was kept up till about 

 half an hour after dark, and then ceased, so that 1 presume all had arrived in that 

 time (two and a half hours). When I left a constant chattering and gossip was going 

 on among the reeds. I could form no accurate estimate of the numbers that were 

 there ; but the reeds on the north of the lake are about a quarter of a mile long and 

 200 yards wide, and every reed seemed to have half a dozen on it. I could always 

 tell, ever afterwards, when it was getting late, by seeing the starlings going Doohyle- 

 wards. 



"With regard to the breeding-place of starlings: in the Court-house Square, 

 Rathkeale, at the rear of one of the dwellings, there is an old pigeun-house, in which 



