ISO THE MIGRATION OF BRITISH BIRDS 



never been detected in Ireland at all, or have only 

 occurred there as purely abnormal wanderers ! Six 

 others migrate to Ireland every spring, but are very 

 locally distributed in the island, and in most cases con- 

 fined to the eastern and southern districts. It is also 

 interesting to remark that all these absent species were 

 late arrivals in our area (presumably when Ireland had 

 become isolated from England), a fact confirmed by 

 the absence of any trace of their emigration northwards 

 to Scandinavia across England and Scotland ; whilst 

 three out of the four species that do visit Ireland 

 very locally on passage undoubtedly extended their 

 range via our area to Scandinavia, viz. the Crane, the 

 Dotterel, and the Ruff {conf. table, p. 122). It is also 

 a significant fact that not one of the three Summer 

 Migrants that visit us from the south-east {conf. table, 

 p. 84) has been known to visit Ireland, except the 

 Red-backed Shrike, a solitary example of which was 

 obtained near Belfast on abnormal flight. All but five 

 of these Summer Migrants to the British Islands breed 

 in England, and of these five, two did so within com- 

 paratively recent years, viz. the Osprey and the Dotterel. 

 Twenty species are also absent from Scotland, but these 

 are all southern forms whose dominant range in England 

 itself is not very northerly. All the species that visit 

 Ireland also range further north into Scotland, with 

 the exception of the Garganey and the Hoopoe, which 

 are both decidedly southern types ; and with these two 

 exceptions all the Summer Migrants to Ireland are 

 dominant wide-ranging species over the whole of the 

 British Area. It is to be deplored that we know so 

 little of the distribution of birds in Ireland. Correct 



