406 Mr. W. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 



other points of structure. Not having succeeded, however, 

 in detecting vibratory cilia upon their surface, I rather incline 

 to consider them as corresponding to the tentacular filaments 

 which are found at the extreme edge of the cloak in all our 

 British Patellae as well as in Lottia testudinalis, though en- 

 tirely wanting in this species, to which the term " margine in- 

 tegerrima *" may therefore very appropriately be applied. 



In tracing this species through all its stages, I find that in 

 its very young state the red markings of the shell are not in 

 regular lines, but have a tessellated or chained appearance ex- 

 actly similar to those of Mr. Forbes's Lottia pulchella ; in 

 fact, I cannot perceive any difference between my shells and 

 specimens of Lottia pulchella kindly presented to me by Mr. 

 Forbes. 



That the specimens collected on this coast are really the 

 young of the larger species I can have no doubt, having ob- 

 served it in all stages of growth, and traced the transition of 

 the chained markings of the centre until they become linear 

 at the edges of the half-grown shells. In more advanced 

 stages of growth, however, the apex becomes thickened and 

 the early markings obliterated. 



From what has been stated, then, I think I am warranted 

 in coming to the conclusion, that this species is a Lottia of 

 Gray (Patelloidea, Quoy) ; that L. pulchella of Forbes is the 

 young state of the same ; and, after an examination of the 

 figures and description in the ' Zoologia Danica,' I must also 

 add, that I consider it to be the true Patella virginea of 



1 Mullerf. 



^~~ Newcastle, Dec. 9, 1841. 



L. — The Birds of Ireland. By Wm. Thompson, Esq., Vice- 

 Pres. Nat. Hist. Society of Belfast. 

 [Continued from p. 360.] 

 No. 9. — Fringillidae ; Sturnidm ; Corvidae. 



The Bullfinch, Pyrrhula vulgaris, Temm., is one of those 

 birds which is distributed over the island, but is at the same 

 time, in one sense, a local species. Mr. Selby observes that it 

 is " common in all the wooded districts of these islands/' — but 



* See Muller's description of Patella virginea. 



f Patella tessellata, Mull., appears to me to be a variety of Lottia testudi- 

 nalis, which sometimes approaches very near in appearance to L. virginea. 

 The tessellated markings, the distinct longitudinal striae, and the brown im- 

 pression inside the shell, are all characters of the former species, and consti- 

 tute the principal difference between them. The cloak of L. testudinalis is 

 also (as I have stated above) fringed with filaments at the external margin, 

 while that of L. virginea is entire. 



