1906. M'Ardi^K. — A Morel 7iezv to Ireland. 159 
more or less grooved through its whole length, flexure slightly 
tinged with reddish brown, decidedly furfuraceous, crisp, taste 
pleasant (Engl. Flora). Found on a grassy bank by the 
Clonbrock River, Co Galway. by the Hon. Ethel Dillon, who 
called her brother's attention to it while he was fishing, 8th 
May, 1906. 
Glasneviu. 
THE BIRDS OF IRELAND AND THE ISLE 
OF MAN. 
BY ROBKRT PATTERSON, M.R.I. A., M.B.O.U. 
The publication of Mr. P. G. Ralfe's recent work on the Birds 
of the Isle of Man makes a comparison of the avifauna of 
Ireland and Man now possible ; and some of the results of 
a close study of Ussher's " Birds of Ireland" and the volume 
mentioned above will be found in the following pages. 
At first sight the comparison of the avifauna of so large 
an island as Ireland, with its 20,300,000 acres, with that of 
so small an island as Man, with its 145,325 acres, may seem 
futile, but if we eliminate all of the very common species 
found in both places, the result may be worth considering. 
The topographical features of a country affect its bird-life 
so profoundly that we must first find the most striking point 
of difference, as giving the key to the situation. Mr. Ralfe 
devotes twenty-two pages to a very clear description of the 
physical features of Man, and these can be briefly summarised. 
" The Isle of Man consists of a main central mass of high-land, 
to which, at the north and south, are appended much smaller 
tracts of marly level country. 
I. The Northern Lowi^and forms a well-defined district, 
about one-fifth of the island's total area, sharply bounded by 
the wall-like face in which the central mountain range rises 
from it." This level district is crossed by a line of low hills of 
sandy cultivated soil, north of which lies the Ayre, forming 
the point of the island, a sandy and gravelly waste, ending in 
A 2 
