Mr. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 187 



attraction. To stony embankments, piers, and similar erec- 

 tions it is likewise partial. These Temminck mentions it to 

 frequent in Holland ; but part of his remarks on the Anthus 

 aquations are very different from those of British authors*. 

 In pursuit of food we find most of the true shore birds 

 (Grallatores) frequenting the bare beach, whether oozy, gra- 

 velly, or sandy, but the rock pipit generally seeks its suste- 

 nance either on the masses of seaweed which when growing are 

 exposed at ebb-tide, or on those which have been cast ashore. 



When looking for the nests of terns upon the Mew Island, 

 off the coast of Down, on the 13 th of June, I discovered one of 

 the rock pipit ; this w T as entirely composed of fine grasses, 

 which also served for lining. It was on the ground, at the 

 base of a narrow ledge of rock, and contained three eggs ; 

 these were greenish white, closely and pretty uniformly 

 speckled all over with pale brown. The specimens of this bird, 

 which I have critically examined, correspond with Temminck's 

 description of the young birds of the year. 



The Wheat-Ear, SaxicolaCEnanthe, Bechst, — Is a regu- 

 lar summer visitor to and commonly distributed over Ireland 

 and the surrounding islands. Nowhere have I observed it 

 in greater numbers than in the extreme north-west ; and when 

 visiting the largest of the south islands of Arran on the 8th 

 of July, 1834, accompanied by Robert Ball, Esq., it was the 

 only land bird of passage we met with. In the north the 

 wheat-ear is generally the earliest of the summer birds in its 

 arrival, appearing in the last week of March ; to this, however, 

 the late spring of 1837 proved an exception, the 15 th of April 

 being the earliest date of its occurrence known to me about 

 Belfast. By my correspondent in Kerry it has not been seen 

 before the 25th of March. Although it is not the disposition 

 of this species to congregate, about a dozen were on April the 

 3rd, 1836, observed together contiguous to the sea near Belfast, 



^ * Temminck observes under " Habite : particulierement le midi de 

 Y Europe, ou il niche ; seulement de passage dans les provinces temperees, 

 le long des hordes des eaux et des fleuves, aux environs de Paris. * • • 

 Niche dans les pays en montagnes, meme sur les plateaux steriles de celles 

 qui sont tres-elevees, comme les Pyrenees et autres ; plus rarement sur les 

 falaises et sur les rocs qui bordent la mer." Man. Orn. Eur., part 1, p. 

 267, 2nd ed. Again, in Part 3 of this work it is remarked, " Vit en Suisse 

 et sur le Rhin," p. 189. 



