1 68 Ihe Irish Nahiralut. September, 



Not heeding the others, I retired for a short time into my 

 dark-room and on emerging from it I was dehghted and very 

 thankful when Mr. O'Leary, one of the hght -keepers, handed 

 me another he had just collected from the flock, which, on 

 examination, I found to be a Rock-Pipit. The next day 

 after carefully surveying the rock I failed to find any birds 

 present. On Sunday, September 24th, at 12.40 p.m., I 

 obtained a specimen from two observed ; while twenty 

 minutes afterwards several alighted, all very tame, and 

 looking tired. I collected three others this day and could 

 have had more were they needed. There were fulty twenty - 

 four on the rock. The next day they had all disappeared. 

 An interval of four days now elapsed before this species 

 reappeared. On Thursday, September 28th — a fine, bright, 

 cool day — at 12.30 p.m., I observed two, one of which I 

 collected ; the other went off. Again another four days' 

 interval ensued ere the bird turned up. On Monday, 

 October 2nd, I saw many, two of which I collected. The 

 next day they all had departed, but on the day following — 

 Wednesday, October 4th — I saw one, and another (possibly 

 the same bird) on the day following. On October 6th, this 

 bird had disappeared and no Rock-Pipits were present, nor 

 did I notice any on the morning of October 7th, the date of 

 my departure from the Tuskar light-station. In all, then, 

 I collected eight birds and observed a great many, and in 

 every case the}^ were tame and listless as though the}^ had 

 undertaken a journey of considerable length. Now, it is a 

 significant fact that with the single exception of a bird which 

 was seen by Mr. Power, light-keeper, on October 25th, and 

 which disappeared the same day, there have been no records 

 from anyone of the four light -keepers of this bird's occurrence 

 throughout the winter and spring, and, indeed, up to the 

 present time (July) as I write this paper. Furthermore, 

 during my sojourn on the rock, from March 21st to April 

 22nd, 1912, I did not observe a single Rock-Pipit, and I 

 surveyed the rock very carefully for them, and even went 

 so far as to collect, on suspicion, some of the more dusky- 

 shaded Pipits which turned up, but which proved to be 

 Meadow -Pipits. Here then we seem to have had before us 

 quite definite autumnal movements of Rock -Pipits, which. 



