96 
The Irish Naturalist. 
June. 
THE BIRDS OF LOUGH CARRA. 
BY ROBERT F. RUTTLEDGE. 
For some time I had been anxious to visit the islands 
and shores of Carra in search of birds. I decided therefore 
to spend a day on the northern and eastern shores on 
April 25th. The first interesting birds I saw were in a bay 
below Moore Hall ; they were a pair of Great Crested Grebes 
(these birds are not uncommon on the lake), which were 
diving near a reed-bed quite close to the shore. Further 
out a pair of Tufted Duck were resting on the water. 
From here I proceeded to Derrinrush, a long thickly 
wooded peninsula jutting out nearly half way down the 
lake. The dense natural covert was alive with small 
birds, especially Willow Wrens and Chiff-chaffs. After 
spending some time here I returned to go along the eastern 
shore. The first bird I came across was a duck with 
about ten young swimming up a river. When their mother 
left them the little ones dived and floated alternately down 
to the lake. I observed the first Swift I had seen this 
year here (April 25th). 
In another reedy inlet were more Tufted Duck, Coots, 
and on the shore a pair of Water-rails. Mallard were very 
numerous all day. From the shore I saw a great many 
Black-headed Gulls on an island where they breed, some 
of them sitting. 
On April 29th my brother and I hired a boat which met 
us at Cloonee House and we started from there at about 
ten o'clock. The first islands we searched were two long 
low ones off Brownstown House. At one end of the first 
we found a colon}^ of Common Gulls, there were many 
empty nests, and we found one with three eggs and three 
with one. Common Sandpipers were about nearly all the 
islands and the shores, and we saw two pairs of Arctic Terns. 
On the second island, where I had previously seen the 
Black-headed Gulls sitting, we found all the nests robbed, 
