204 Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



common for some weeks, frequenting thick brakes of tangled 

 undergrowth in the border-land between the prairie and timber, 

 in company with Melospiza fasciata. The stomachs of those 

 examined at this season were filled with small seeds, mixed with 

 a large amount of fine gravel. 



ZoNOTRiCHiA ALBicoLLis (Gniel.) White-throated Sparrow. — 

 An abundant winter visitor to this section of the State, arriving 

 in numbers about the beginning of November, and quickly- 

 spreading over the whole country, specially affecting places where 

 dense thickets of briers and thorns cover the ground, in which 

 they can conceal themselves, and among the branches of which 

 they hop restlessly about on the approach of an intruder, inces- 

 santly uttering a querulous but not unmusical call-note. Heads 

 of fallen trees, overgrown with a tangled mass of parasitic plants, 

 are also a favourite resort ; and in such places they effectually 

 elude pursuit by running along the ground from side to side, 

 always keeping at that which is most remote from observation ; 

 and so swiftly do they run as to make it a matter of no small 

 difficulty to catch a winged bird ; besides which, they are adepts 

 at concealing themselves among the dead leaves. They are 

 eminently social in all their habits, always being found in small 

 flocks, and freely consorting with other species. When driven 

 from their favourite haunts among the underwood, by persistent 

 pursuit, they never fly far, but generally alight upon the nearest 

 tree, where they hop from twig to twig in an anxious and uneasy 

 manner. Before leaving us in March, after which month nona 

 remain, they become much more arboreal in their habits, and 

 may then be constantly seen among the middle and upper 

 branches of tall trees, chasing one another here and there, and 

 keeping up a continual chatter. These birds, and indeed both of 

 the above mentioned species also, are very partial to the neigh- 

 bourhood of water. Their food in winter consists almost entirely 

 of small seeds, but occasionally the remains of insects may be 

 detected. 



Spizella domestica (Bartr.) Chipping Sparrow. — On the 

 13th November, 1880, I obtained my first and only specimen of 

 this pretty little finch ; it was feeding on the ground among dead 

 leaves, in company with snow birds, and its stomach was filled 

 with seeds of grass. 



