3966 Dublin Natural History Society. 



occasionally sings on the top of some high tree. You seldom hear this bird in early 

 spring, unless the day be soft and open, though he may sometimes be heard singing 

 even in raw frosty mornings. This season (1853) was a most unpropitious one at the 

 period when the bird generally commences, and 1 do not find him in my notes until 

 March. As the season advances, frost does not exercise much influence on his song, 

 a remark which applies to songsters in general. The females of this bird sing, as I 

 have proved by actual dissection. It rarely sings on the ground. 



" The next group we shall consider — the buntings — contains three species, war., 

 Emberiza Miliaria, E. citrinella, and E. Schcsniclus. Their songs very much resem- 

 ble each other in character. That of the common bunting (E. Miliaria) is the most 

 varied and powerful ; it has been not unaptly compared to a bunch of keys drawn ra- 

 pidly round a notched ring. It may be heard, with very little intermission, from the 

 beginning of February till the end of August. This bird sings at all times of the day, 

 but particularly during the bright hours of noon. The song is always delivered from 

 a slightly elevated position, such as the tall stems of the cow-parsnip, or on some bush 

 slightly higher than the rest of the hedge. He is not a very common bird about 

 Donnybrook. 



" The black-headed bunting (E. Schceniclus) has a very feeble harsh song. He 

 commences about a fortnight or three weeks later than the last, and ceases as soon as 

 the breeding-season is over. He sings either on the top of a high tree, or in a bunch 

 of rushes : he also sings at night. 



" The yellow-hammer (E. citrinella) has the same range of season as the common 

 bunting, and sings either from a bush or a wall, or from a high bank ; he, too, sings 

 at noon ; the song is shorter, but not so harsh : it was in song on the 25th of January, 

 1852. 



" The linnets found about Donnybrook are three — Linota minor, L. montium, and 

 L. cannabina : but owing to their not being regular permanent residents there, I can- 

 not speak fully about them. They are all generally in song about the second week in 

 February, and cease to sing in June or July ; they all sing from an elevation. 



" The greenfinch (Fringilla Chloris) generally begins his discordant song in the 

 latter end of February, and ends it in June, but may occasionally be heard in August 

 and September. They usually, at least in the commencement of the year, sing in con- 

 cert ; they always sing from a height, and, as well as the true linnet, may be heard in 

 autumn recording for hours. 



" The only other native songsters heard about Donnybrook are three — the com- 

 mon starling, the woodlark and the stonechat. The starling (Sturnus vulgaris) sings 

 from the beginning of January to the end of May, and chooses some elevated spot for 

 his orchestra. The woodlark (Alauda arborea) I had the good fortune to come across 

 only during one season, that of 1851, and he commenced his song in the middle of 

 February, and ceased in the beginning of June. I remarked that he sung on wing, 

 not rising up into the sky in rapid spires like the skylark, but sweeping round in wide 

 circles, and ended his song on the ground. Whether this is its common method of 

 singing or not I do not know, as it never, to my knowledge, bred in Donnybrook since. 

 The stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) conducts us to the migratory birds ; as the same re- 

 marks apply to it and to its allies, the whinchat and wheatear. The latter bird (Sax- 

 icola (Enanthe) is not a resident in Donnybrook, only visiting us at its entrance into 

 and departure from this country. It is, however, very common about Bohernabreena ; 

 so that I have had copious opportunities of watching its habits. They all generally 



