April, 1922. The Irish Naturalist. 37 



THE BIRD LIFE OF DUBLIN CITY. 



BY ATHOLE HARRISON. 



Observers of our local avifauna have a very prolific 

 hunting-ground in Dublin, even in the city itself. It 

 might be thought that but few species would be found in 

 a city such as this is, but, far from being so, the number 

 of species recorded from the city is, as far as I can ascertain, 

 80, a total which might seem incredible until one thinks 

 of the numerous attractions Dublin offers to the birds 

 with its man}/ parks and squares and, more than all, its 

 rivers. 



In this paper is included the whole of the area within 

 the city boundaries, with the exception of one or two areas 

 which, while inside the boundary, are not strictly of the 

 city ; such as Clontarf and Dollymount, and the extension 

 of the Pigeon-house wall. These two areas alone could 

 most probably bring the total from 80 to over 120, so that 

 their exclusion is fulty justified on that score alone. The 

 area dealt with is bounded by a line running approximately 

 from the North Lotts, along the N. C. Road, to Kings- 

 bridge and Dolphin's Barn, and thence by the Grand Canal 

 to Ringsend. 



Of the commoner species, which one vvould expect to 

 find, Dublin has most. Song Thrushes, Missel Thrushes, 

 and Blackbirds abound in the gardens and parks, where 

 their beautiful songs may be heard, especially on spring 

 mornings, and to a lesser extent in the dusk. In the same 

 localities we meet with the Robin, Hedge Sparrow, Chaffinch, 

 and the less popular Magpie and Woodpigeon. About in 

 the streets, and on the roof tops, are the House Sparrows, 

 Starlings, Jackdaws and Rooks. Others, less common, 

 are the tiny Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and 

 Wren, while the spring brings us the Willow Wren, Chiff- 

 chaff, and Swallow, as well as the less-known Swift, which 

 one sees and hears dashing and screaming about the house- 

 tops at dusk, after returning from the hills and fields where 

 it has spent the day looking for food. In autumn, the dull- 



