196 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



COTILE EIPARIA (Linn.) Sand Martin. — Unlike the last- 

 mentioned species, this martin only occurs on its southward 

 migration, at least in any conspicuous numbers. They are most 

 frequently associated with the flocks of Petrochelidon lunifrons, 

 but never in any numbers. I observed them first about the end 

 of July, and from that time until the middle of September not a 

 day passed without my seeing them. They were quite plentiful 

 about the middle of August. The stomachs of those which I 

 examined were filled with small black beetles. 



Pyranga estiva (Linn.) Summer Red-bird. — This species is 

 found only in the thickets of the river bottom, to which it is a 

 summer visitor, arriving about the middle of April and leaving 

 by the end of August. It is a shy, unsociable bird, much more 

 frequently heard than seen, notwithstanding the conspicuous 

 plumage of the adult male ; even before they leave this country 

 the young seem to wander off" from their parents. Their food 

 consists of large insects, beetles, grasshoppers, grubs, &c., and in 

 the fall of various berries. Though generally found among the 

 branches of trees, they prefer those whose stems are surrounded 

 by thick underbrush to the more open woods. 



AsTRAGALiNUS TRiSTis (Linn.) American Goldfinch. — This 

 beautiful little finch is a very common winter visitor to the 

 county, where it arrives about the middle of October, and fre- 

 quents the wooded creeks on the prairie, mesquite flats, and weed 

 beds on neglected farms. In such places they prove of the 

 greatest service to the agriculturist, by feeding greedily on the 

 seeds of the broom weed, sunflower, and other noxious plants, but 

 in the creeks they feed on the seeds of different trees, which they 

 break up into small pieces before swallowing, catching each piece 

 of the kernel as it flies off" with great expertness. When a flock 

 is so engaged among the branches of a tree, they are, as a rule, 

 perfectly silent, but make as busy a picture as it is possible to 

 imagine, while the pieces of shell, &c., cast away in their endea- 

 vour to get at the kernel, fall with a continuous clatter among 

 the dead leaves below. When not engaged in feeding, they make 

 long circling flights above their haunts, or settle upon the summit 

 of some lofty cottonwood in the neighbourhood to enjoy what 

 warmth they can obtain from the winter sun. They are always 

 very tame, scarcely flying away at the report of a gun, and even 



