VOL. vii] TREE-SPAREOW IN IRELAND. 4^^ 



mainland, e.g. about Malin Head. Certainly Tory, 

 Aranmore, and Rathlin should now be thoroughly 

 surveyed for the purposes of investigating the presence 

 of the Tree-Sparrow on these islands also. They are 

 much larger islands than Inishtrahull, hence there i& 

 ample room for both Tree- and House-Sparrows to dwell 

 together in harmony and obtain adequate food and 

 shelter. 



In conclusion, having now brought the interesting 

 fact to light that the Tree-Sparrow is a dominant 

 feature of bird-Ufe on Inishtrahull Island, one wonders, if 

 it goes on increasing as it apparently has been doing, 

 whether it will continue to hold its own against its 

 enemies : for wliile free from human molestation, which 

 must largely account for its tameness, it doubtless 

 falls a prey to Merhn hawks, and cats. I understand 

 that the latter were brought over to the Island some time 

 ago to suppress an outbreak of mice ; the mice have 

 materially diminished in numbers, but the cats have 

 remained, and as their owners practically never eat 

 meat or fish (the latter being shipped off and sold as 

 soon as possible), it is evident that these animals cannot 

 depend for their living on what they may be presented 

 with. or may purloin from their owners. Hence it is more 

 than likely that many Tree-Sparrows which assemble 

 round the cabin-doors become, from time to time, an 

 easy prey to the feKne domestic. There is practically 

 a cat in every cabin, and from the activity displayed 

 by these animals as they dart up rocky pinnacles or 

 descend the face of precipitous cHffs to the water's 

 edge in pursuit of birds, I should say that their environ- 

 ment here has brought into play the predatory instincts, 

 handed down by their wild ancestors, in a marked 

 degree. 



LITERATURE. 



Thompson, Natural History of Ireland, Vol. I., 1849. 

 Templeton, Catalogue of Irish Vertebrate Animals. 

 Watters, Natural History of the Birds of Ireland, 1853. 

 H. Blake-I^ox, Zoologist, 1870, p. 2018. 



