150 The Irish Naturalist. July, 
Next to the Blackcap, and to my mind before it, comes the 
Garden Warbler, of which Mr. More speaks in his " List 
of Irish Birds " as a rare summer visitor and very local. 
I went a good many years ago to hear it at Mr. Parker's 
demesne at Castle Lough on the Tipperary side of Lough 
Derg, and I heard there several birds of this species, and 
Mr. Parker assured me that as many as twelve pairs had 
bred in the vicinity. The only other place where I heard 
this famous warbler was at Lord De Vesci's demesne at 
Abbeyleix. At Castle Lough it usually makes its appearance 
in May and continues in full song until June. Its song 
then begins to decline, though Mr. Parker has heard it as 
late as the 20th August. Mr. Robert Gray describes the 
song as " a wild, yet mellow Blackbird song." The Rev. 
F. O. Morris says that it is " exquisitely sweet, rich, and 
flute like." Its notes are more sustained than those of the 
Blackcap, whose song often consists of only a few phrases. 
It sings also for three months or more in the year. The 
" Grasmiicke," as it is called in Germany and Switzerland, 
is a great favourite everywhere there, and frequently a 
cage bird. I have heard it all day long in Switzerland, and 
for consecutive weeks, long after other birds had ceased to 
sing. I hope that search will be made for it by some of 
our bird lovers, it is worth seeking. 
We come now to other, perhaps, less gifted songsters, 
but much more plentiful in Ireland. 
Of these four are plentiful and comparatively well known — 
Chiff-Chaff, Phylloscopus collyhita. 
Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus. 
Whitethroat, Sylvia communis. 
Sedge Warbler, Acrocephalus schoenoboenus. 
And two others are known but to a few : — 
Wood Warbler, Phylloscopus sihilatrix. 
Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevis. 
The Chiff-Chaff is usually first or second of the spring 
migrants to arrive on our shores. My earliest date at 
Balbriggan is March 12th. His well known cheery notes 
may be heard up to September, when he prepares to take 
