Dublin Natural History Society. 3967 



begin their song on Patrick's day ; and cease to sing before the end of June. They 

 sing either on a bush or on wing, rising for a short distance into the air. As the whin- 

 chat (Saxicola rubetra) is supposed to be only a summer visitant, I might as well men- 

 tion that T have killed or observed this bird in the months of October, September and 

 February. 



" The chiff-chaff (Sylvia rufa) generally arrives here the latter end of March, and 

 sings as soon as he comes. The earliest date I ever observed him on was the 10th of 

 March, 1849, near Templeogue, and I find him noted in every month until the 15th 

 of September. The song is delivered from some bush or tree, but generally among 

 the branches, at about middle height from the ground. It has two songs, one of which 

 is peculiar to the breeding-season, the other to the remainder of his sojourn here. 



" The lesser willow-wren (Sylvia Trochilus) arrives here a fortnight or three weeks 

 later than the last, and ceases to sing at about the end of July. He sings either on 

 the topmost boughs or on the wing ; his song is much more prolonged than that of S. 

 rufa. This bird sings with its bill closed, similarly to the robin ; I have remarked this 

 trait only while he was feeding. 



" The whitethroat (Curruca cinerea) arrives here in the beginning of May and sings 

 till August, with an interval of three weeks in July. Its song is a melancholy wail, 

 intermixed with a queer scolding note. It sings thus : — rising from the top of some 

 bush with a great deal of action, fluttering wings, &c, it takes a short flight upwards, 

 and then, wheeling back to the point it started from, it ends its song perched. The 

 earliest record I have of it is the 2nd of May, and the latest the 29th of August, 1850. 



" The three swallows (Hirundo urbica, H. rustica and H. riparia) all make an at- 

 tempt at song. They generally do not commence singing until three weeks after their 

 arrival in this country, which usually takes place at this side of the bay in the follow- 

 ing order : — The sand-martin the last week in March or the first in April ; the earliest 

 record I can find is the 20th of March, 1849 : they are generally all gone by the first 

 week in October. This bird has very little pretensions to song ; it sings on the wing, 

 or on a bank. The chimney-swallow comes on the first or second week in April ; the 

 earliest I have noted occurred on the 4th of April, the latest date I find recorded in 

 Donnybrook is the 20th of October, 1849. It has more pretension to song than the 

 rest of the genus, and sings more sweetly in autumn, even as late as the month of Sep- 

 tember : 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 l'3th of April, 1852. It leaves us about the middle of September, al- 

 though last year a pair of them were feeding their young, which were in the nest, as 

 late as the 3rd of October. 



" That polyglot, the sedge-warbler (Sylvia Phragmitis), concludes the list of sum- 

 mer songsters. He arrives here the first or second week in May : the earliest date I find 

 for him is the 2nd of May, 1851. He is the most perfect of our migratory songsters, 

 and might most aptly be called the ' Irish mocking-bird,' as, hidden 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 spe- 

 cies frequented Donnybrook, which closely imitated the blackbird, whitethroat, wag- 

 tail, titlark and bunting. He almost always sings in the closest retirement ; and 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 of September, 1851. 



