49 



THE MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS OF CERTAIN SHORE= 

 BIRDS AS OBSERVED ON THE DUBLIN COAST. 



* 



C. J. PATTEN, M.A., M.D., Sc.D. 



Having for several years made observations on the migratory 

 movements of shore-birds on the Dublin coast, and having 

 selected that coast this season as a holiday resort for the pur- 

 pose of carrying out further research, it occurred to me that a 

 paper dealing with the above subject might prove of interest 

 to some members of the British Association, seeing that it 

 assembles in the Irish Metropolis this summer. 



After visiting many parts of the Irish sea-board, I may say 

 that I think it would be hard to find a better observatory for 

 the purpose of recording the arrivals and departures of numerous 

 species of shore-birds than the coast of Dublin. By this, I 

 mean not only Dublin coast proper, which bounds the 

 estuary of the River Liffey, but also those extensive flat beaches 

 north of the city which form a feature of the coast-line of the 

 rest of the county. 



While the greater part of this coast is prolific in bird-life 

 during the Spring and Autumn migrations, nowhere have I 

 been able to make better observations, or obtain a larger list 

 of birds than along the flats of the north side of the estuary of 

 the River Liffey, the further end of which is intersected longi- 

 tudinally by a series of sand-dunes which, uncovered even at 

 high water, form an island now connected with the road by a 

 bridge. Hence, these sand-hills are accessible in all conditions 

 of the tide, and with the surrounding beach, they constitute 

 what is known as the ' North Bull.' The richness of the avi- 

 fauna about here depends largely on the great extent and 

 diversified nature of the soil, which yields an abundant and 

 varied mass of food-stuffs, and also on the shelter secured 

 by the Hill of Howth, which acts as a gigantic break-water 

 against the fury of wind and wave. The sand-dunes, as they 

 face Dollymount, are fringed with pasture-land, which, as it 

 meets the sand, becomes damp and broken up into small 

 grassy knolls, and intersected with gullies into which the tide 

 flows. On these clumps many wading-birds congregate during 



* Read at Section D., British Association, Dublin Meeting, September 

 2nd to 9th, 1908. An abstract of this paper will appear in the Official 

 Report of the British Association, 1908. 



1909 February i. 



