56 ZOOLOGY. 



in the remoter parts of Counties Mayo and Donegal, while the Peregrine 

 Falcon nests on sea-cliffs and mountains throughout the country. The 

 rocky coasts of Ireland afford numerous breeding places for sea-birds ; 

 Black-headed Gulls nest in large colonies on the midland bogs. 



As with the Mammals, so several familiar English Birds — the Nightingale, 

 the Reed Warbler, and the Tawny Owl, for example — are quite unknown in 

 Ireland. On the other hand, several birds are extendmg their range as 

 breeding-species through the country, as the Stock-dove, the Tree-sparrow, 

 and the Crossbill. The Magpie, now common throughout Ireland, furnishes 

 an excellent example of the rapid spread of a modern immigrant, as the 

 bird is known to have invaded the country so recently as 1684, when a 

 small flock landed in County Wexford. A very interesting example of the 

 southern range in Ireland of a typically northern animal is furnished by the 

 Red-breasted Merganser, which nests in many counties, including Kerry, 

 although its breeding-range in Great Britain is confined to Scotland, and on 

 the Continent to northern and Arctic localities. Recent discoveries by 

 Messrs. Ussher* and Knowles of remains of the Great Aukf in kitchen- 

 middens on the Antrim and Waterford coasts prove that this interesting 

 northern bird ranged farther south in Ireland than elsewhere in Europe, 

 and was used as food by pre-historic Man. 



Much valuable information obtained from birds observed at lighthouses 

 and lightships around the Irish coasts has been recently collected by Mr. 

 Barrington, who has been able to throw considerable light on the paths 

 taken by the various species on their migrations.+ 



The only Reptile native in Ireland is the Brown Lizard {Lacerta vivi- 



-pard) which is locally spread over the country. The 



Reptiles and absence of Snakes from the island is well known, and 



Amphibians. is doubtless due to the same cause as the absence of 



the Eastern group of Mammals described above. Of 



the Amphibians, the Common Frog is abundant and widespread, though 



according to tradition it is an introduced animal ; and only a single species 



{Molge vulgaris) of the three British Newts is known to inhabit Ireland. 



The most interesting Irish Amphibian is the Natterjack Toad, which is 



confined to a small area in County Kerry along the shores of Dingle Bay. 



It is, doubtless, a member of the old Lusitanian fauna, as it is abundant in 



south-western Europe, but very scarce and local in southern Britain and 



Central Europe. 



Attention may be called to two features of the Irish fish-fauna Beyond 



the hundred-fathom line off the west coast several 



p,. . deep-sea fishes have been dredged which are, of 



course, unknown in the shallow channels between 



Ireland and England, or England and the Continent. 



This deep-sea fauna off the western Irish coast shows a remarkable mingling 



of northern and southern forms. Arctic and Scandinavian species like Ma- 



crurus rupestris, and the Portuguese deep-sea shark Centrophorus squamo- 



sus,OQ.QMx together off the coast of County Mayo.§ 



* R. J. Ussher and R. Warren. " The Birds of Ireland." London, 1900. A. G. More. " A 

 List of Irish Birds. Dublin, 1890. 



f See illustration on preceding page. 



\ R. M. Barrington. " The Migration of Birds as observed at Irish Lighthouses and Light- 

 ships." London and Dublin, 1900. 



§ E. W. L. Holt and W. L. Calderwood. " Survey of Fishing Grounds, West Coast of 

 Ireland. Report on the Rarer Fishes." Ti'ans. R. Dub. Soc. (2), v., no. i.x., 1895. 



