19 '2. Notes. 223 



100 mm. = 3.94 inches, may be considered to be the larger race — Saxi- 

 cola oenanthe leucjrrhoa. It will be seen, therefore, from my book on 

 Bird Migration (p. 631 and 3) that several specimens of the Greenland 

 Wheatear have been obtained in Ireland, some as far back as 1885. 



Fassaroe, Bray. Richd. M. Barrington. 



Common Eider Nesting in Donegal. 



In British Birds for September, H. W. Robinson records the finding 

 by " a friend " of two nests of Somaieria m. mollissima " on a small island 

 off the coast of Co. Down," on June 2, 1912. In the October issue of the 

 same Journal, " Co. Down " is corrected to " Co. Donegal." 



BOTANY. 



Saponaria Vaccaria in Dublin. 



On the occasion of the visit of the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club to the 

 newly-made ground at the North Wall in July last, I observed several 

 plants of Saponaria Vaccaria. As this ground has been formed by sand 

 and mud dredged from the bottom of the Liffey, and seems remote from 

 gardens, it would seem probable that the plants have originated from 

 seeds which have come with a cargo of grain. The species is native over 

 a considerable portion of central and southern Europe. I wonder 

 whether Miss Knowles has a record of this plant in her lists of aliens 

 found in the vicinity of granaries. It is a pity that no competent botanist 

 was amongst the party on the date mentioned, as there was a particularly 

 rich cereal flora on the ground, which would have well repaid a careful 

 study. 



W. F. GUNN. 

 Dublin. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Shelly Bank, Dublin Bay. 



On October 5th, 1907, the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club held an 

 excursion to the Shelly Bank, situated at the South Bull, and at that 

 time, though much decreased in size, a considerable area of low sand- 

 dunes, with a fair though naturally restricted flora, remained. Wishing 

 again to examine the "bank" I proceeded there on September 21, but 

 was surprised to find that it is now non-existent, having been completely 

 washed away. The only evidence of its former existence is a slight 

 elevation of the sand over a small portion of the site. In the map ac- 

 companying " The vegetation of the district lying South of Dublin," 

 by Pethybridge and Praeger, dated 1905, it appears as a strip about 

 three quarter of a mile in length, and it may be worth recording its 

 disappearance. It illustrates the changes which are gradually thouerh 

 constantly taking place along the County Dublin shores. 



W. F. GUNN. 



Dublin. 



