72 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



little sparrows like nothing better than a rough-and-tumble fight, 

 yet, with their stout bills and their warlike dispositions, I could 

 never see that they gained any advantage over the warblers, who 

 in spite of their feeble appearance seemed quite their equals. 

 Their song is rather sweet, but consists of only two notes very 

 rapidly repeated. 



Dendececa discolor (Baird.) Prairie Warbler. — A summer 

 visitor, and not common. The earliest note I have of its arrival 

 is the 29th of May, but 1 have no doubt it comes much earlier, 

 as I have found its eggs hard-set on the 1st of June. As its 

 nesting has been but rarely observed I shall describe it. It had 

 built in the fork of a dogwood bush about eight feet from the 

 ground. The external diameter of the nest was SIO inches, in- 

 ternal diameter 1-70 ; depth, external, 3 inches ; internal, 1-60. It 

 was composed of dry grass and fine grass stems, mixed with soft 

 vegetable down, and long shining vegetable fibres like tow, and 

 lined with the finest of these materials, chiefly very fine stems 

 and cotton. It contained four eggs which were white, 

 specked with dark and light shades of brown, the latter having 

 a lilac tinge. These specks are massed together near the larger 

 end, forming a very distinct ring round the egg. Although called 

 the Prairie warbler it confines itself almost entirely to trees and 

 brushwood. 



Seiurus auricapillus (Swains.) Golden-crowned Thrush. — 

 This little bird is not uncommon in spring and summer. I have 

 taken it first on the 17th of May, and have found it in full song 

 and apparently breeding on the 25th of that month. It sings 

 with a monotonous, unmusical note. 



Seiurus LUDOVieiANUS (Bonap.) Long-billed Water Thrush.— 

 I have first observed its arrival from the south on the 16th of 

 April, after which, in spring and summer, one may commonly 

 hear in the woods its song, resembling " tu-wee, tu-wee, tu-wee, te 

 witte witte witte." It is fond of running over the mud by the 

 river-side, catching insects, and jerking up its tail in a very 

 wagtail-like way, but it is also commonly found in the woods far 

 from water, generally, I think, in spring. 



Geothlypis trichas (Caban.) Black-masked Ground-warbler. 

 — This very handsome little bird, sometimes called the Maryland 

 Yellow-throat, is common in spring and summer near swampy 



