Wild birds and stories about them
The game birds of this district are: 'wild duck, wild goose, plover, partridge, pheasant , wood-cock, and snipe. The water-hen is shot by some. The song birds are: robin, thrush, blackbird, linnet, yellow- hammer and gold - finch. The birds that are neither songsters nor game birds are: owl, swan, curlew, hawk, magpie, crow, raven and jackdaw. The migratory birds are: cuckoo, swallow and comerak in Summer and a certain species of wild-goose and wild-duck in Winter. Some say the starling is a migratory bird and some say he is not. There is a rookery at Mr. Mc Gloins and another at Ellaghmore.
The people tell a story about the robin and how she got her red breast. They say that on Good Friday when our Lord was being crucified a robin flew overhead and seeing him, she came and tried to pull the nails out of his hands and feet. As she was trying to do this a drop of our Lord's blood fell on her breast and every robin since has a red breast. The Irish people have a special love for the robin. They