XIV PREFACE. 



inland area should we hope to find so many, as amid the seclusion 

 of that little earthly paradise, with all the " kindly aspects, and 

 sloping coverts," pourtrayed in the pages of its amiable historian. 

 By drawing a circuit of thirty miles around Belfast, and its most 

 populous neighbourhood, (the boundary line being a mile and a 

 half inland from the town, and eight miles and a half seaward, so 

 that the opposite verge may include the greater portion of the 

 bay,) we shall find that at least 185 species have been seen within 

 it, some of them, too, possessing very high interest. Within that 

 circle have appeared the first individuals of several species placed 

 on record as visiting Ireland ,and the only examples of three species 

 yet obtained ; namely, the spotted redshank, the flat-billed sand- 

 piper, and the surf scoter. Within the limited circuit of thirty 

 miles, alighted in 1802, the first white-banded cross-bill [Loxia 

 bifasciaia) known to visit Europe, its native country being Siberia; 

 nor for many years afterwards was the species observed in 

 Great Britain, or in any country of continental Europe. Indeed 

 within the last few years only, has it been distinguished from 

 a nearly allied North American bird. Within the same range 

 occurred the only individual of the Bonapartian gull {Larus Bona- 

 partii) yet ascertained to have migrated to Europe, the species 

 being a native of North America, and common in the fur coun- 

 tries, &c. Within that area was also obtained the first fork- 

 tailed gull [Larus Sabini) known to wing its way southward, 

 not only to temperate climes, but towards the continent of 

 Europe ; and being a young bird of the year, it appeared in a 

 garb, in which the species had never before come under the notice 

 of the naturalist. 



But to return to the remark of White, respecting the parish of 

 Selborne producing more species than the half of these found in 

 all Sweden, it must be observed, that as a general rule the number 



