50 The Irish Naturalist. 



these forms, Anderssen has a var. sphag7iophiIa, Fries from sub- 

 alpine lyapland. 



Beyond Europe the true plant is rare. I have it from Siberia, 

 Canada, and United States; though many of the plants so 

 named from the States are decidedly wrongly referred, and re- 

 quire careful and extensive comparison and study, as the forms 

 do in Britain. 



THE BIRDS OF RATHI.IN ISIvAND, CO. ANTRIM. 



BY ROBKRT PATTERSON, M.B.O.U. 



The nearest point of Rathlin is about three miles from Fair 

 Head, but the distance from the quay at Ballycastle to the 

 landing-place in Church bay, is seven and a-half miles. The 

 island is five and a-half English miles long from the Bull, or 

 western point, to Bruce's Castle, on the extreme east, and 

 upwards of four miles from Rue Point, the most southerly, to 

 Altacarry, at the north-east extremit}^ The greatest breadth 

 at any part is one and a-quarter miles, and the narrowest 

 half a mile, while the highest point is 447 feet above sea 

 level. The cliffs on the northern and western sides are 

 extremely precipitous, the average elevation of the island 

 being about 200 feet. Rathlin has an area of 3,200 acres, only 

 a small portion of which is under cultivation, the rest con- 

 sisting of undulating rocky heaths with frequent marshes, 

 and four lakes, the largest (I^ough Ushet) covering thirty 

 English acres. For much of the following information I am 

 indebted to the late owners of the island, Robert Gage, Esq., 

 and Miss Gage, whose recent deaths are much deplored 

 by Irish naturalists. M.y own notes, taken on the island, 

 have been consulted, and, of course, Thompson's "Birds of 

 Ireland." Dr. J. D. Marshall's paper on the statistics 

 and natural history of the island, {^Proceedings Royal Irish 

 Academy, 1836), and Mr. A. G. More's '%ist of Irish Birds," 

 have been referred to. I have also taken some information 

 from the "Reports on the Migration of Birds" (i 881- 1887), 

 and have to thank Mr. R. J. Ussher for drawing my attention 

 to an article in \h^ Zoologist iox 1867, by Mr. Howard Saunders, 

 describing a visit he paid to the island. I am aware that Mr. 

 Gage published a list of the birds of Rathlin in the Procecdiiigs 

 of the Dubliii Natiiral History Society^ but I have not been 

 able to refer to it. 



The species that are known to breed in Rathlin are marked 

 with an asterisk (*). 



*Turdus viscivorus, L. — Misti^k-tiirush. Resident all the year; it 

 breeds regularly, generally in the bare fork of a tree. 



*Turdiis musicus, ly. — Song-Thrush. Common ; breeds in all the 

 gardens, more numerous about Church bay than elsewhere. 



