1908. A^ofes, 57 



Morning Flight of Sea Birds over Dublin. 



During the last two winters I have been much struck b}' the continual 

 passage of sea birds during the period between dawn and sunrise, as 

 viewed from my own garden at Rathgar, 3 miles S.S.W. of the centre of 

 Dublin cit}'. The birds consist mostly of gulls, flying south-west. The 

 movement is noticeable as soon as there is light enough for observation, 

 and seems to cease about sunrise. I have not observed any correspond- 

 ing return movement in the evening, so that it would appear that the 

 birds straggle back during the da}-. The}- evidently come from the 

 mouth of the Liffey, presumably from the sands of the North and South 

 Bull, but why so great a number head in this particular direction I do 

 not know. If we assume that an equal number passes across the whole 

 arc (about two-thirds of a circle) of the Dublin suburbs, the total number 

 of birds going inland each morning would be enormous. I give an 

 abstract of two observations, each of 15 minutes duration. The birds fly 

 in bunches of i to 50, sometimes in compact bodies, more often 

 straggling — the .epulis especially. On windy mornings their flight is much 

 more irregular than when the weather is calm. 



nth Jan., 1906. 7-30 to 7.45 a.m.— CjuIIs, 369 going S.W., 2 W, i N.W,, 

 3 vS.E. Rook, I vS.W., I N. Magpie, 1 X. Jackdaw, 12 vS.E., 2 N. vStar- 

 ling, 2 N.E. Pigeon, i N.E. Finch, i N. 



14th Jan, 1907. 7.40 to 7.55. — Gulls, 449 S.W. Curlew, 20 S.W. Rook, 

 2 N. Magpie, 2 N. Finch, 2 N.W., 2 N. The dim light of January 

 mornings prevented my exercising my limited ornithological talents as 

 to the closer identification of species. 



R. Iyi.ovD Prakger. 



Dublin. 



Ornithological Notes from Londonderry. 



The following notes for 1906 and 1907 may be of some interest to the 

 readers of the /r/s/i A^aturalist, though they do not record the occurrence 

 of any great rarities. The Pied Wagtail is, I think, one of our most un- 

 certain and shy songsters, and I have only heard its .song a few times in 

 my life, and then at unusual seasons. I heard it singing one day at the 

 end of January, 1906, on the roof of the Corn Market in our city, and on 

 27tli September, 1907, I heard it singing in Templemore Park on a dull 

 foggy morning. During the past two springs I have found the Great 

 Crested Grebe breeding at Port Lough^ Co. Donegal, about five miles 

 from our city. I saw two pairs on the lough, which is of small size. I 

 believe this is the first record of the Great Crested Grebe breeding in 

 Co. Donegal. Prof. Leebody reports that he saw a Red-throated Diver in 

 full summer plumage at Inch, Lough Swilly, on 8th June, 1907, also 

 that he saw a pair of vSniew at Inch, early in May, 1907. 



I found the Lesser Tern nesting on the sandbank in the fresh water at 

 Inch; one pair in 1906, and three pairs in 1907. In June, 1907, Mr. 

 David Woodburu, when searching this low grass-covered sandbank with 



