1906-1907.] 513 



additions to the Britannic fauna. (Applause.) The additions 

 to the fauna and flora of Ireland totalled between eighty and 

 ninety species, and, while some of these additions resulted from 

 the study of groups which had hitherto been almost unworked in 

 this country, in many other cases additions were now made to 

 groups of which the Irish list might be regarded as tolerably 

 complete. Speaking of the geology of Lambay, Mr. Praeger 

 said that practically all the rock crags faced west or south-west. 

 This was primarily due to the tilt of the strata, which dipped 

 generally, and at a fairly low angle, towards the east, and thus 

 the edges of the beds appeared in the scarps. The various 

 rocks which go to build up the island were divisible into two 

 main groups — those of sedimentary origin and those formed by 

 igneous activity. Of the Lambay mammals referred to by Mr. 

 Praeger special reference was made to the Grey Seal, which 

 could be seen oftenest near the caves, and which was some- 

 times seven or eight feet in length. It was rare in the larger 

 islands of Great Britain, and Mr. Baring had in it a gold mine 

 from a zoological point of view. (Applause.) 



Mr. Robert Patterso^n, M.R.I.A., took up the second 

 portion of the lecture, which dealt with bird life on the island. 

 He said it would be apparent to most that the avi-fauna of 

 Lambay must depend upon the sea birds for its richness, 

 variety, and interest. The only trees were those immediately 

 round the castle, and they were mostly well occupied by noisy 

 Rooks and Starlings. There were one or two wind-swept hedges, 

 but, speaking roughly, there was not sufficient woody cover to 

 induce the ordinary land birds to stay on the island in any 

 numbers. Meadow-Pipits and Wheatears breed in some 

 numbers, and these species were certainly the most obvious 

 land birds in the island in summer. He had been surprised 

 to meet with the Blackcap Warbler in the summer of 1905. 

 It was a regular summer visitor to County Dublin, although 

 almost unknown in the North. The position of the island, 

 lying, as it seemed to do, in the track of migrating small birds, 

 brought a variety and charm of its own. He and Mr. Foster 

 found on the 15th April, 1906, innumerable Willow-Wrens 

 evidently just arrived. Hundreds of them swarmed in the 



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