I9I5- Pkntt^and. — Notes o?i a Decoy in Co. Louth. 2ti 



I know this is a unique feature in decoys, and its con- 

 venience and utility arc obvious. The depth of water in the 

 pond could not have been more than one or two feet. 



Black Hall, Drogheda. 



SOME IRISH BIRD-NAMES HEARD ON RATHLIN 



ISLAND. 



BY R. F. SCHARFF, B.SC. 



On Rathlin Island off the coast of Antrim many Irish 

 speakers are still to be found and Mr. Francis Joseph Bigger 

 collected last August some of the Irish names of birds 

 current among the inhabitants, and also from Gaelic fisher- 

 men from the Scottish islands whose tongue is similar to 

 that of Rathlin. He also noted the local English equiva- 

 lents. Both of these names are of interest and they are 

 almost all additions to the list of names I published in 

 the Irish Naturalist in July last (supra p. 109). 



Briar Bunting is a word usually applied in the north 

 of Ireland to the Corn Bunting. The Irish names used in 

 Rathlin Island are c|\oi*oeo5 and 5.\fi5.M|\c. 



Bridle-Neb is according to Mr. Pracgcr, the Razorbill. 

 The Rathhn Irish word is fpMn<\(:;. 



Coot — bolAC-o^n . 



Crane pronounced Crann is here evidently employed 

 to denote Heron. The Rathlin Irish word cti|\|iAi' sfiMti 

 seems to correspond to cojif gfiAn as given by Dinneen 

 for Heron. 



Corncrake was entirely omitted from my list through 

 an oversight. Ussher and Warren give C|lx^•6n-<^, ciu\x)nAc, 

 cfine-AC. The Rathhn Irish word is rt^Mn or Cx^ppicfi'^n. 



Cuckoo — cutx^5. 



Falcon — Peregrine — rex^t)x^5. Buzzard — C|\omxin. Kestrel 



Frost Bird is unknown to me, and Mr. N. H. Foster 

 never heard the name. It may possibly be the Brambling. 

 The Irish name, 5x\lt)x\n aw fgiAt bjieAC — meaning the 



a2 



