Irish Ornithology '. 403 



tiou of migratory birds, though more allowance ought to be 

 made for them. It is scarcely to be expected that they 

 should cross two arms of the sea twice a year, unless the 

 reasons which induce them to enlarge the area of their dis- 

 tribution be very imperative. 



When we consider that such birds as the Icterine Warbler 

 (Hypolais icterina) , the Great Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus 

 ttirdoides) , the Black Redstart {Ruticilla titys), the White- 

 spotted Bluethroat {Cyanecula wolfi), the Crested Lark 

 {Alanda cristata), and some others breed in great numbers 

 in Holland, but object to cross the Channel to visit England, 

 we can scarcely wonder that a second channel should prove 

 a bar to the further migration of allied species. The Night- 

 ingale (Daulias luscinia) is as unknown in Ireland as it is 

 in Scotland. The Whinchat (Pratincula rubetra) , the Red- 

 start (Ruticilla phoenicurus) , the Garden Warbler (Sylvia 

 hortensis), the Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sihilatrix), the 

 Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla raii), and the Tree Pipit (Anthus 

 trivialis) are common summer visitors to England, and more 

 or less common, though local, in Scotland, but very rare in 

 Ireland. The Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus streperus) and 

 the Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) are very doubtfully 

 recorded from Ireland, though they are common, if local, in 

 England and in many parts of Scotland. 



The Wryneck (lynx torquilla) is common in many parts of 

 England, but rare in Scotland, and very rare in Ireland. 



The Irish Limicolae and Gavise scarcely differ from those 

 of England and Scotland, but it is worthy of note that 

 the Stone Curlew (CEdicnemus scolopax) and the Kentish 

 Plover (JEgialitis cantiana) have not been known to breed in 

 either Scotland or Ireland, though both are regular summer 

 visitors to the south of England; and that the Dottrel (Eu- 

 dromias morinellus) and the lled-necked Phalarope (Phala- 

 ropus hyperhoreus) , though they both visit Scotland in 

 summer, have not been known to breed in Ireland. 



There seems to be an important difference of distribution 

 between the migratory and the resident birds of the British 

 Islands. If a resident English bird does not range as far 



