412 
LARIDiE. 
birds on the wing in Bantry Bay, which I have no doubt were of 
this species. We had no gun on board, or we should have had 
no difficulty in procuring several” (p. 16). This gentleman sub- 
sequently mentioned to me that one was obtained in Cork harbour 
in April 1846, and another in the same month of 1848. 
Mr. B. Chute informed me in 1846 that this shearwater breeds 
on the larger Skellig Island off the coast of Kerry, whence a spe- 
cimen was sent to him in July 1850. They are called night - 
birds } from the circumstance of their being only seen at night 
about the rock. He remarks that when spending two months 
at Dingle, in the summer of 1843, he was often out boating on 
very fine days, and always met with these birds either on wing or 
basking in the sun upon the water. He thinks they may breed 
on one or two other islands off the coast of this county, but only 
on that named are they positively known to do so. They have 
» been stated to nidify on the coast of Mayo (but the precise locality 
was not mentioned). The young birds were sought for as food 
by the country-people.* 
In Willughby's ' Birds 9 (1678), it is recorded of this species, 
which is called “ the puffin of the Isle of Man ; Fuffinus anglo- 
rum ” — “ At the south end of the Isle of Man lies a little islet, 
divided from Man by a narrow channel, called the Calf of Man, 
on which are no habitations, but only a cottage or two lately built. 
This islet is full of conies, which the puffins, coming yearly, dis- 
lodge and build in their burroughs. * * * When they 
[young] are come to their full growth, they who are entrusted 
by the lord of the island — the Earl of Darby — draw them out of 
the coney-holes. * * * They usually sell them for about 
ninepence the dozen, a very cheap rate. * * * We are told 
that they breed not only on the Calf of Man, but also on the Silly 
Islands. Notwithstanding they are sold so cheap, yet some years 
there is thirty pounds made of the young puffins taken in the 
Calf of Man : whence may be gathered what number of birds 
breed there” (p. 333). This, written more than 160 years ago, 
suggests the cause of the poor birds deserting the islet. 
* Mr. 11. J. Montgomery ; — the late Mr. R. Glennon, jun., was his informant. 
