A in erica Ji l)ird VisUors lo Ireland at Home. 207 



But absurd as the rule may be that entitles a bird once captured 

 in a supposed wild state to a place in the fauna of the country, 

 it seems to be the only rule that is workable. No two ornitho- 

 logists would quite agree as to how often and under what 

 circumstances a bird must occur to be admitted into the 

 exclusive circle. And the probaljility of a l:)ird being aided by 

 resting on ships should not affect its standing, even if it could 

 be i^roved that it did so. A favourite wa}- of accounting for the 

 present distribution of reptiles is that they or their eggs were 

 carried to distant lands in hollow^ logs ; and what is your Atlantic 

 liner but a hollow log somewhat developed and specialized. 

 It is useless for naturalists to make laws as to the means and 

 methods which organisms are to use in spreading their species 

 on the face of the earth, and we might speculate long and use- 

 lessly on what great results might spring from such accidental 

 wanderings, and how^ they might affect the fauna or flora of a 

 country, with all its sensitive interdependence. What small 

 fortuitous occurrences often produce great results, and how 

 little the means that brought them about matter. Is Ireland 

 any less the land of saints because St. Patrick sailed over on a 

 paving stone ? 



THE SHAMROCK : A FURTHER ATTEMPT TO EIX 



ITS SPECIES. 



BY NATHANIEL COLGAN. 



On the approach of last Saint Patrick's Day I was induced, 

 chiefly by the kind off"er of assistance made me by the editors 

 of this Journal, to take in hands once more the inquiry into the 

 species of our national badge, begun some years earlier, 

 with the results detailed in the issue for last August. A notice 

 to subscribers was accordingly inserted in the March number 

 of this year, so framed as to ensure that all specimens sent in 

 response should be certified as genuine by competent authori- 

 ties, while, at the same time, as a provision against a not im- 

 probable lack of interest in the subject amongst the subscribers 

 to the Irish Naturalist, some three dozens of circulars were 

 prepared and sent by post to selected points in the Irish-speak- 



