i see] Prescribed "A nimal Diet. " 187 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



PRESCRIBED " ANIMAL DIET." 



[1866.] 



A MEETING of the Dublin Natural History Society, held at 

 the Royal Irish Academy-house on the evening of Friday, 

 February 2nd, 1866, marks the beginning of one of his 

 most intimate ornithological friendships. The writing of 

 the " Cybele " was now practically finished, and an even- 

 ing's turn at birds was all the more enjoyable as the stress 

 of the botanical work was over. The chair was occupied 

 by his colleague Dr. Moore. The proceedings embraced 

 three papers on zoological subjects, and of these the first 

 was read by Mr. Robert Warren, who reported some 

 occurrences of rare birds on the shores of the River Moy 

 and Killala Bay. Speaking of one of these, the Fulmar 

 Petrel (of which only seven specimens three recorded by 

 Thompson and four by Mr. Warren himself were then 

 known to have reached Ireland), Mr. Warren drew atten- 

 tion to the fact that this bird had never yet been obtained 

 on that part of the Irish coast lying nearest to its great 

 breeding-haunt at the island of St. Kilda viz. the northern 

 coast-line of Antrim, Derry, and Donegal : which seemed 

 curious, in view of the fact that specimens had occurred on 

 the east, the west, and even the south coasts. The paper 

 interested Mr. More, not only from its merits, but because 

 during the summer of 1864 he had spent some months by 

 the Moy, at Foxford, and had therefore some knowledge of 

 the localities referred to. He made a few remarks on the 

 paper, expressing his belief that the absence of records 

 from the northern coast was less due to want of observa- 

 tion than to the character of the coast-line, as the birds 

 would in stormy weather be driven past the exposed shores 

 of Donegal straight into Killala Bay, which, he said, was 

 " open like a funnel to receive them." Mr. Warren and he 



