VI 
PREFACE. 
Birds ; and in Mr. Macgillivray’s, the heads, at least, of nearly 
all the land birds are represented. 
With so much already done pictorially and descriptively, on the 
subject of. British ornithology, it may be considered superfluous to 
treat of the birds of Ireland in a separate work, but, in the author’s 
opinion, every country should possess a Natural History specially 
appertaining to itself. In the publications referred to, the birds of 
Ireland have been but briefly indicated, — a species generally dis- 
missed in a single line, and so much appearing only in two works; 
— those of Sir Wm. Jardine and Mr. Yarrell. 
The least reflection will convince any one who appreciates the 
geographical distribution of species, that the birds of Ireland are 
in this respect even more interesting than those of Great Britain, 
as, within its latitude and longitude, Ireland is the “ ultima Thule,” 
the extreme western limit to which the European species not found 
in the Western Hemisphere, resort. The geographical position 
of the island, also renders it occasionally the first European land on 
which North American species, after having crossed the Atlantic, 
alight. 
Considerable differences, too, consequent on physical causes, 
will be found to exist in the economy of the same species in 
Great Britain and Ireland. 
The Physical Geography or natural features of the country 
compared with those of Great Britain, cannot be said to deprive 
Ireland of more than one species (the ptarmigan). The relative 
proportion in the two countries, of* land to water, of heaths and 
bogs to cultivated grounds and plantations, has influence only on 
the number of individuals. 
Nor does the difference in the mineralogical structure of Ireland 
compared with Great Britain affect the actual presence of any 
species, although it is the primary cause which influences the 
