Mr. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 187 



attraction. To stony embankments, piers, and similar erec- 

 tions it is likewise partial. These Temminck mentions it to 

 frequent in Holland ; but pail of his remarks on the Anthus 

 aqiia.ticus are very different from those of British authors*. 

 In pursuit of food we find mos»t of the true shore birds 

 (Gral)atores) frequenting the bare bench, whether oozy, gra- 

 velly, or sandy, but the roc!, pipit generally seeks its suste- 

 nance cither on the masses of seaweed which when growing are 

 exposed at ebb-tide, or on those which have been cast ashore. 



When looking for the nests of terns upon the Mew Island, 

 off the coast of Down, on the 13th of June, 1 discovered one of 

 the rock pipit; this was entirely composed of fine grasses, 

 which also served for lining. It was on the ground, at the 

 base of a narrow ledge of rock, and contained three eggs ; 

 these were greenish white, closely and pretty uniformly 

 speckled all over with pale brown. The specimens of this bird, 

 which I have critically examined, correspond with Tenuninek^s 

 description of the young birds of the year. 



The Wheat-Ear, Saxicola (Enanthe, Bechst. — Is a regu- 

 lar summer visitor to and commonly distributed over Ireland 

 and the surrounding islands. Nowhere have I observed it 

 in greater numbers than in the extreme north-west ; and when 

 visiting the largest of the south islands of Arran on the 8th 

 of July, 1834, accompanied by Robert Ball, Esq., it was the 

 only land bird of passage we met with. In the north the 

 wheat-ear is generally the earliest of the summer birds in its 

 arrival, appearing in the last week of March ; to this, however, 

 the late spring of 1S37 proved an exception, the 15th of April 

 being the earliest date of its occurrence known to me about 

 Belfast. By my correspondent in Kerry it has not been seen 

 before the 25th of March. Although it is not the disposition 

 of this species to congregate, about a dozen were on April the 

 3rd, 1836, observed together contiguous to the sea near Belfast, 



* Temminck observes under " Habite : particulierement 3e midi tie 

 1' Europe, ou il niche; settlement tie passage dans les provinces temperees, 

 le long des bordes ties eaux et des fleuves, aux environs de Paris. * * * 

 Niche dans les pays en montagnes, meme sur les plateaux sieriles de celles 

 qui sont tres-elevees, comme les Pyrenees et autres ; plus rarement sur les 

 falaises et sur les rocs qui bordent la mer." Man. Orn. Eur., part 1, p. 

 267, 2nd ed. Again, in Part 3 of this work it is remarked, " Vit en Suisse 

 et sur le Rhin," p. 189. 



