10 84 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



knowledge ; but it is otherwise respecting the smaller birds and the myriad 

 smaller fruits and seeds. The best collection of observations on this subject 

 in our own islands is that made by Newstead, 1 which includes over 1,100 records 

 relating to 128 species of British birds, and derived mostly from post-mortem 

 examinations in Cheshire. The seeds, &c, found in the birds were deter- 

 mined as far as possible ; but any attempt to discover the probability of 

 germination after ejection by the bird lay outside the scope of the inquiry, 

 which was directed mainly towards the economic value of birds. This series 

 of observations, it is to be hoped, will prove the nucleus of a solid body of 

 fact which will at length let us see clearly the relation between our native 

 birds and the dispersal of plants. In the meantime, Newstead's and the 

 other existing records — many of the latter being isolated observations — tell 

 us part of the food of part of the avifauna during part of the year ; and a 

 few facts may be excerpted. Finches and their allies are large eaters of 

 seeds, particularly of species of Brassica ; the Bullfinch has a very general 

 diet of seeds. But as regards the Finches, Newstead's conclusion coincides 

 with that formed by Kerner, that all the seeds are crushed and digested. 

 Many waterside birds, again, appear to feed on the seeds of Carex (Guppy 

 also found a number of Wild-Ducks filled with the seeds of Cyperaceae, 

 Sparganium, and Potamogeton) ; and Polygonum seeds are devoured by 

 birds of various families. Hawthorn seeds are eaten extensively by the 

 Thrush and Finch families ; Finches and other birds frequently eat rose-seeds. 

 And so on. But it will be seen that, to assist any definite conclusions 

 in our particular inquiry, much fuller information would be required. All 

 we can say at present regarding our special problem is that there is very 

 little doubt that many of the local birds eat the seeds of many of the local 

 plants, some of which occur on the island, and some of which do not ; and 

 that these seeds are, in a number of cases, ejected in a condition which makes 

 germination possible. 



As regards the second mode by which birds may convey seeds — by the 

 seeds becoming entangled in or attached to their feathers or legs, — while we 

 are without local evidence bearing directly on our problem, well-known obser- 

 vations on the point have been made by various naturalists. Thus, from a 

 62-ounce pellet of mud taken off the wounded leg of a Eed-legged Partridge, 

 Darwin germinated 82 specimens of plants belonging to at least five species. 

 This well-known instance was of course an exceptional occurrence; it was 

 the broken leg, not any normal feature, that brought about the collection of 



1 Robert New-stead : The Food of some British Birds. Journal of the Board of Agriculture, 

 xv, No. 9, Supplement. 1908. 



