98 DUBLIN NATURAL HISTOET SOCIETr. 



in April; the earliest record I can find is the 20th March, 1849 — they are gene- 

 rally all gone by the first week in October. This bird has very little pretensions 

 to song ; sings on wing, or on a bank. The chimney-swallow — first or second 

 week in April ; the earliest 1 have noted occurred on the 4th April ; the latest 

 date I find recorded in Donnybrook is the 20th October, 1849. It has more pre- 

 tension to song than the rest of the genus, and sings sweeter in autumn — even 

 as late as the month of September. It does not sing during the latter weeks of 

 July. The window swallow scarcely sings at all ; it arrives here generally later 

 than the other two — the earliest date I find recorded is the 13th of April, 1852; 

 it leaves us about the middle of September, though last year a pair of them were 

 feeding their yonng, which were in the nest, as late as October 3rd. That po- 

 lyglot, the sedgewarbler (S. phragmites), concludes the list of summer song- 

 sters. He arrives here the first or second week in May. The earliest date 

 I find for him is the 2nd May, 1851 ; he is the most perfect of our migratory 

 songsters, and might most aptly be called the " Irish mocking-bird," as, hid in 

 some brake of briars or bunch of reeds, he pours forth a mingled imitation of 

 the songs of almost all our other warblers, mixed with his own harsh song. 

 Two years ago, a bird of this species frequented Donnybrook, which closely 

 imitated the black-bird, white-throat, wagtail, titlark, and bunting; he almost 

 always sings in the closest retirement. His melodious strains are not confined 

 to the day-time, but may also be heard during the stillness of our summer and 

 autumn nights. The latest date I have heard him was on the 5th September, 

 1851. This ends all I have been able to collect concerning the songsters of Don- 

 nybrook individually. The only other songsters I have met with are the gold- 

 finch (C. elegans), which only visits Donnybrook, or at least those parts I have 

 access to, occasionally. I have, however, heard him singing in August and 

 September, in the counties of Kilkenny and Waterford, and in early spring 

 about the brakes of Ballinascorney. The bullfinch (P. vulgaris) has only oc- 

 curred once to me in Donnybrook, and then in the depth of winter. The ring 

 ouzel I have heard singing in May at Lough Bray, county of Wicklow ; the song 

 harsh, short, and delivered from the top of a rock. I never met them in the 

 county of Dublin, save in a stream glen in the hills between Killakee and 

 Dundrum. The redwing and fieldfare, though recording here in early spring, I 

 have never heard sing. On our next night of meeting I hope, with your permis- 

 sion, to conclude this subject with a few general remarks on the causes which 

 influence and control the duration, &c., of the song of birds. 



Mr. Andrews considered Mr. Kinahan's statement of great interest, record- 

 ing, as it did, within a limited range in the neighbourhood of Dublin, the habits 

 and the peculiar notes of such a variety of our smaller birds. Dr. Farran had 

 this day mentioned the occurrence, early this month, of rather a rare bird — the 

 black cap (Motacilla atracapilla) at his place, Rathgar House. 



MAY 13, 1853. 



ON OUR AUTUMNAL SONGSTERS. BY J. R. KINAHAN, A.B PART II. 



At our last night of meeting I laid before you an abstract of the period of 

 commencement and duration of the songs of those birds which are found about 

 Donnybrook. To-night I mean to conclude the subject with a few remarks on 

 the natural causes, &c., which appear to control and influence the duration of 

 the song (premising that it is not my intention to confine this part of the paper 

 solely to notes taken in the county of Dublin, but to refer to other localities 

 whenever it will tend to the elucidation of the subject), first detaining you with 

 a few remarks on various irregularities, so to speak, in the manner and time of 

 singing. First, of night warblers — those which at this period have been noted 

 by me are, taking them in the order of their greatest frequency, the sedge war- 



