SEDGE W A K B L E E. 
 

 
 omi 
 
 BONtT BIRim 
 
 : .M VM \S0:;,^ A 
 
OUE 
 
 lEISH SONG BIEDS. 
 
 BY 
 
 EEV. CHAELES WILLIAM BENSON, A.M., LL.D. 
 
 SjcaU fSastct of Satfimtncs School, Dubltn, 
 
 Hcnarary Secretary e!f'*The Sons of the Clergy ” (/ reland). 
 
 D UBLIN: 
 
 HODGES, FIGGIS, AND CO., GEAFTON STEEET. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL AND CO. 
 
 1886 , 
 
■go 5car ^ilemorg 
 
 OI' 
 
 CHARLIE, 
 
 BELOVED CHILD —FRIEND—COMPA NION, 
 
 WHO “KELL ON SLEEP,” 
 
 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, 1884, 
 
 IN HIS FIFTEENTH YEAR, 
 
 little ^ook is bebicatck 
 
 BY 
 
 HIS FATHER. 
 
'i 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction ........ 
 
 Missel Thrush ....... 
 
 Song Thrush ........ 
 
 Redwing ........ 
 
 Eieldfare ....... 
 
 Blackbird ........ 
 
 Ring Ousel ....... 
 
 Dipper ........ 
 
 Hedge Sparrow ...... 
 
 Robin ........ 
 
 Redstart ....... 
 
 Stonechat ........ 
 
 Whinchat ....... 
 
 Wheatear ........ 
 
 Icterine Warbler ...... 
 
 Sedge Warbler ....... 
 
 Grasshopper Warbler ...... 
 
 Whitethroat ....... 
 
 Garden Warbler ...... 
 
 Nightingale ....... 
 
 Blackcap Warbler. ...... 
 
 Wood Warbler ....... 
 
 Willow Warbler ...... 
 
 Chiff-chaff. 
 
 Golden-crested Wren ...... 
 
 Wren ........ 
 
 Great Tit ....... 
 
 Blue Tit. 
 
 a2 
 
 PiOB 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 28 
 
 33 
 
 35 
 
 3 ? 
 
 41 
 
 42 
 
 44 
 
 4r 
 
 62 
 
 55 
 
 67 
 
 68 
 
 61 
 
 64 
 
 66 
 
 70 
 
 72 
 
 74 
 
 79 
 
 84 
 
 87 
 
 90 
 
 92 
 
 94 
 
 . 98 
 
 101 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 Coal Tit 
 Long-tailed Tit 
 Meadow Pipit . 
 Tree Pipit 
 Rock Pipit 
 Skylark 
 Woodlark 
 Snow Bunting 
 Reed Bunting , 
 Bunting 
 Yellow Bunting 
 Chaffinch . 
 Brambling 
 Hawfinch . 
 Greenfinch 
 Goldfinch . 
 Siskin . 
 
 Redpoll 
 Linnet . 
 Bullfinch . 
 Starling 
 Swallow 
 Nightjar 
 Cuckoo 
 Appendix 
 
 page 
 
 103 
 
 104 
 
 106 
 
 108 
 
 no 
 
 112 
 
 117 
 
 118 
 
 120 
 
 122 
 
 124 
 
 127 
 
 131 
 
 133 
 
 135 
 
 138 
 
 140 
 
 141 
 
 143 
 
 146 
 
 148 
 
 152 
 
 158 
 
 163 
 
 171 
 
PEEPACE. 
 
 From early childhood I have been a lover of birds. Their 
 songs in particular seemed always charming, and led to 
 innumerable questions about the songsters themselves, to 
 which I often received somewhat unsatisfactory replies. 
 
 When I was a little boy, it was my great delight to 
 go out with an older friend on what we called ‘‘ an 
 ornithological walk,” and there note all the birds we 
 could see and hear. Well do I remember creeping 
 cautiously to discover the possessor of the reed-like song 
 I so often heard in the bogs of Kilbarry, near the city 
 of Waterford, and my astonishment when informed that 
 it could proceed from no other than the sedge warbler, 
 our ^‘Irish nightingale”! How often, too, did I endeavour, 
 and unsuccessfully, to imitate the curlew’s whistle, with 
 which my companion could, I think, deceive the l)irds 
 themselves! When a book on the feathered tribes was 
 placed in my hands, with what fearful joy did I turn 
 over the leaves, almost too much agitated to note its 
 contents 1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 viii 
 
 Before I was ten years old, I had commenced a work 
 of my own on my favourite pursuit, illustrated, too, by 
 my own hand. Vividly still do I remember one of these 
 illustrations, and the ease and speed vuth which it was 
 executed. It was the drawing of the blackbird, always 
 my favourite. First the outline was rapidly sketched; 
 then a small circle for the eye was drawn; ink did the 
 rest; and, in less than five minutes, the picture was 
 complete. 
 
 It was not, however, my artistic powers alone that 
 derived their first inspiration from the study of birds ; but 
 my earliest poem must be referred to the same source. 
 It seems as if it were but a few years since that, driving 
 on my uncle’s car, the coachman, with one flick of his 
 whip, brought down a pretty chaffinch from a bough 
 over our heads, and suggested to me this little impromptu, 
 which I imagined to be blank verse, and not unworthy 
 of the theme :— 
 
 “ Pink ! short was thy life on earth. 
 
 Torn from thy native woods 
 By the cruel hand of man, 
 
 And numbered with the dead.” 
 
 Some few years after this, I became the fortunate 
 possessor of the first two volumes of Yarrell’s British 
 Birds, and thus considerably extended my boyish know¬ 
 ledge of our feathered friends. I made a collection of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 eggs, and endeavoured, as best I could, to identify the 
 species mentioned in those admirable volumes, my only 
 regret being that I did not possess the third. 
 
 For many years I had but little time or opportunity 
 for the study of ornithology; but when I had settled 
 down to a schoolmaster’s arduous toil, I began again to 
 seek solace and recreation in my old and still fondly 
 remembered pursuits. 
 
 I formed a Field Club in the School, and enjoj’ed many 
 a pleasant and health-giving ramble with some of the 
 boys, our great ambition being to note as many species 
 as possible when we went abroad. 
 
 In all these excursions a beloved child was with me; 
 and gradually I extended them to a week or two in 
 England, visiting Yorkshire, where, when on a visit to 
 Kev. K. D. French, Vicar of Warter, we were privileged 
 to make the acquaintance of Kev. F. 0. Morris, the 
 well-known author of British Birds. We also visited 
 Bardon Hill, and many other favoured localities, such 
 as Wymondham Park, near East Dereham, Horsey 
 Broad, Aldborough, and other places, where we heard 
 the nightingale and other warblers, some of them for 
 the first time. 
 
 Then we took a bolder flight, and crossed to Holland 
 and Germany, coming home delighted with the Icterine 
 and great reed warblers, and hoping soon to hear them 
 again. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 By this time, too, we had formed a museum of more 
 than 150 stuffed birds, contributed by friends in all parts 
 of the country, and I began to give familiar lectures, 
 with the birds as illustrations; these were kindly received, 
 and I visited with my boy and my birds many towns in 
 Ireland, and lectured before most of the Young Men’s and 
 Temperance Societies of Dublin. 
 
 All this is now past. That beloved child, the companion 
 of all my little wanderings, is no longer with me, and I 
 cannot now, alone, go over the ground I traversed so 
 often in his dear company. Feeling, therefore, no longer 
 able to continue my efibrts thus to interest and instruct 
 the young, I thought that I would publish my notes 
 with some additions, as an humble tribute of undying 
 love and regret. 
 
 I cannot flatter myself that anything original will he 
 found in these pages. I have taken freely from all the 
 sources at my command whatever I thought -would tend 
 to inspire my readers with the wish to observe and 
 study for themselves. Mine is not a scientific book, and 
 yet I trust there is nothing unscientific in it. 
 
 My great aim has been to enable, as far as possible, 
 my readers to identify the birds for themselves; and I 
 regret very much that the cost of illustrations placed 
 them beyond my reach. There are many other books, 
 however, from which this deficiency can be supplied. 
 
 To those who live near a good library I would advise 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 the perusal of Dresser’s Birds of Europe; and I would 
 recommend all lovers of birds to procure Professors 
 Newton and Saunders’ edition of Yarrell’s British Birds, 
 the edition of White’s Selhorne by Buckland, Harting’s 
 Summer Migrants, Seebohm’s British Birds—an in¬ 
 valuable and most suggestive book—and Dixon’s Rural 
 Bird Life, a fresh and charming w^ork. British Birds 
 in their Haunts, by the late Eev. C. A. Johns, will 
 also well repay the reader. Other references will be 
 found in the Appendix. 
 
 I cannot conclude without expressing my sincere gra¬ 
 titude to several friends who aided me in preparing my 
 little book, more especially to Thomas French, Esq., 
 Assistant Librarian, Trinity College, who gave me every 
 facility in consulting such books as Dresser, Gould, and 
 other valuable works; to the Eev. Professor Goodman, 
 M.A., for his valuable list of the Irish names of birds ; 
 to the Eev. W. W. Flemyng, M.A., Eector of Clonegam, 
 for his help with the proofs; to Miss Massy, a skilled and 
 most accurate observer, to whom I am indebted for much 
 interesting information; and, most of all, to A. G. More, 
 Esq., F.L.S., our most accomplished ornithologist, to 
 whose kindness and courtesy, and unfailing readiness to 
 place his wide experience and unrivalled sources of inform¬ 
 ation at my disposal, I owe more than I can ever repay. 
 
 Elm Park, 
 
 February 2nd, 1886. 
 

 \ 
 
OUE lEISH SONG BIEDS. 
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 There are two books of God—He Himself is the author of 
 both—the book of Nature and the book of Kevelation. It is 
 with the former of these my concern lies in these simple 
 pages. And it has always seemed to me that it is most 
 important that the attention of the young in particular 
 should be directed to God’s wonders in the heavens above, 
 where night after night the solemn and glittering pageant, 
 so little heeded in its silent progress, passes across the 
 sky—to His creatures in earth and sea, full of beauty, 
 full of instruction, as are all His works—“ sought out by 
 all them that take pleasure therein ’’—pronounced by their 
 Divine Creator Himself to be “ very good.^’ 
 
 Our children should be taught to study God^s works in 
 the open fields, or on the breezy hill—to admire His wisdom 
 and goodness equally visible in the least as in the greatest 
 of His creatures, and thus acquire habits of obseiwation 
 and research which may prove valuable and pleasurable in 
 the extreme. 
 
 Very forcible and very admirable are the words of Charles 
 Kingsley on this point, in his Lecture on the Study of 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Natural History, delivered to the officers of the Koyal Ar¬ 
 tillery, W^oolwich I ** A laboratory for chemical experi¬ 
 ments is a good thing as far as it goes; but I would much 
 prefer to the laboratory a Naturalists’ Field Club, certain 
 that the boys would get more of sound inductive habits of 
 mind, as well as more health, manliness, and cheerfulness, 
 amid scenes to remember which will be a joy for ever, than 
 they ever can by bending over retorts and crucibles amid 
 smells even to remember which is a pain for ever.” 
 
 In another of his works the same most interesting writer 
 suggests the following questions with regard to every 
 stone, plant, or bird we may meet: “ What’s your name ? ” 
 “ How do you come to be where I find you ? ” “By what 
 means ? ” “ From where ? ” “ Now you are here, how do 
 
 you manage to live, if this is not your original abode ? ” 
 And so on. 
 
 Questions such as these will furnish profitable and de¬ 
 lightful occupation for many an idle hour, whilst all the 
 time the questioner is learning invaluable lessons of ob¬ 
 servation, and reflection, and industry, and patience. 
 
 It has been well said that the world of fishes is a world 
 of silence ; but that the world of birds is the world of light 
 and song. In the morning they hail the rising sun, in the 
 evening the heathcock stands on tiptoe on the branch of the 
 highest willow to catch the last sight of him, as he sinks 
 into his western grave. 
 
 Of all living things birds alone possess voices musical in 
 themselves, and most agreeable to man; they enliven our 
 woods and groves, as well as the mountain side and the 
 ocean shore ; nay, even in the close city street the poor 
 sparrow’s chirp has a friendly sound. 
 
 Charles Waterton was perhaps the most, famous of all 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 who loved and sheltered birds. Walton Hall, where he 
 settled down after his world-wide wanderings, was admir¬ 
 ably fitted by nature, as well as partly by its owner, for his 
 purpose. It had all the varieties of soil which could entice 
 different animals, and a lake of twenty-five acres. Around 
 the park the owner built a wall eight feet high, at a 
 cost of £9,000, which he saved from the wine he never 
 drank. 
 
 There was a swamp for peewits, a heronry of forty nests, 
 beyond it a rise, upon which at one time 5,000 woodpigeons 
 were counted. There was a grotto, in which the owner used 
 to sit to talk to the robins that hopped upon his shoes ; and 
 ill severe weather, boiled potatoes were placed on the islands 
 for the jackdaws. No shot was ever fired; there were no 
 dogs, and no keepers. Happy the birds that found shelter 
 there ; they fed on their kind benefactor’s bounty whilst 
 they lived, and many of them, stuffed by his own hands, 
 adorned his museum when they died. 
 
 The varying terms used for flocks of birds seem to me 
 highly interesting. Thus we have:—A covey of partridges; 
 a wisp of snipe; a flight of doves ; a siege of herons; a 
 pack of grouse; a stand of plovers; a clattering of choughs ; 
 a nide of pheasants; a bevy of quails; a muster of pea¬ 
 cocks ; a building of rooks; a plump of wild fowl; a cast 
 of hawks; a flock of geese ; and a watch of nightingales. 
 This last hath a pleasant sound. 
 
 It is thought that the most remarkable note uttered by 
 any bird is that of the Campanero, or Bell Bird—Cotinga 
 carunculata—found in the wilds of South America. 
 
 Bishop Stanley tells us that “it may be heard at a dis¬ 
 tance of three miles, tolling like a distant church bell, when 
 every other bird has ceased to sing in the noontide heat of 
 
4 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 the day. It tolls, then pauses, and, after a silent intei-val’ 
 is heard again. 
 
 “ Two travelling missionaries tell us that in the solitude 
 of the wilderness they heard the Bell Bird for the first 
 time. 
 
 “‘Listen,’ said my companion; ‘did you not hear a 
 church bell ? ’ 
 
 “ ‘We paused; it tolled again, like the low and solemn 
 sound of a passing bell. When all was silent, it fell at 
 intervals upon the ear, heavy and slow, like a death toll; 
 then all was silent, and then again the Bell Bird’s note 
 was borne upon the wind. We never seemed to approach 
 it; but that deep, melancholy, dreamlike sound still con¬ 
 tinued at times to haunt us, like an omen of evil.^ ” 
 
 Mr. Gosse, in his very interesting Romance of Natural 
 History, mentions another strange bird voice. He says ;— 
 
 “ In the forests of Lower Canada, and the New’ England 
 States, I have often heard in spring a mysterious sound, of 
 which, to this day, I know not the author. Soon after 
 night sets in, a metallic sound is heard from the most 
 sombre forest swamps, where the spruce and the hemlock 
 give a peculiar density to the woods, known as the ‘ black 
 growth.’ The sound comes up clear and regular, like the 
 measured tinkle of a cow bell, or gentle strokes on a piece 
 of metal, or the action of a file upon a saw. It goes on, 
 with intervals of interruption, throughout the hours of 
 darkness. People attribute it to a bird which they call the 
 Whetsaw; but nobody pretends to have seen it, so that this 
 can only be considered a conjecture, though a highly pro¬ 
 bable one. The monotony and pertinacity of this tone had 
 a strange charm for me, increased doubtless by the mystery 
 that hung over it. Night after night it would be heard in 
 
 I 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 the same spot, invariably the most sombre and gloomy 
 recesses of the black-timbered forest. 
 
 “ I occasionally watched for it, resorting to the woods 
 before sunset, and waiting till darkness; but, strange to 
 say, it refused to perform under such conditions. The 
 shy and recluse bird, if bird it is, was doubtless aware of 
 the intrusion, and on its guard. 
 
 “ I was riding late at night, and just at midnight came 
 to a very lonely part of the wood, where the black forest 
 rose on each side. Everything was profoundly still; and 
 the measured tramp of my horse’s feet on the frozen road 
 was felt as a relief to the deep and oppressive silence; 
 when suddenly, from the sombre woods, rose the clear, 
 metallic tinkle of the Whetsaw. The sound, all unexpected 
 as it was, was very striking; and though it was bitterly 
 cold, I drew up for some time to listen to it. In the dark¬ 
 ness and silence of the hour, that regularly measured 
 sound, proceeding, too, from so gloomy a spot, had an 
 effect on my mind, solemn and unearthly, yet not unmingled 
 with pleasure.” 
 
 At the other side of the Channel the hooting of the 
 brown or tawny owl has a weird and yet attractive effect. 
 I have stood for a long time to listen to it, as it flitted 
 backwards and forwards from the Baron Hill Woods, near 
 Beaumaris, with a deep Ho—ho, Ho-ho-o-o”—this last 
 with a peculiar tremulous sound. In Ireland, however, we 
 hear only the screech of the barn owl, or the “ hack, hack ” 
 of the long-cared owl at night, the voice of the night jar 
 being certainly the most remarkable of all Irish birds. 
 
 I do not think that anyone hearing this curious note for 
 the first time, could believe that it proceeded from a bird; 
 and it is equally difficult to imagine that the grasshopper 
 
6 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 warbler’s song can proceed from anything but an insect. 
 This latter song I have heard but once; but it is compared 
 to the “ running out of a slick-wheel,” whatever that may 
 be; to me it seemed more like the winding up of a small 
 fishing-wheel. 
 
 Birds of prey are, we know, deficient in song, as they 
 are in nest-making. It is said that the woodchat shrike 
 is an exception to this rule ; I have never, however, had an 
 opportunity of judging from personal experience. 
 
 Some birds really possessed of pleasant voices and 
 musical taste get but little credit for their vocal efforts. 
 Of these, perhaps, the swallow is the most noted instance ; 
 on the other hand, the song of the canary and of 
 the chaffinch have been, in my opinion, far too highly 
 esteemed. 
 
 In Ireland we know but little of the presence of the 
 “three feathered kings of song”—the nightingale, the 
 blackcap, and the garden warbler. These birds are com¬ 
 mon in England, and of late the blackcap has been 
 frequently observed in our own Green Isle ; yet this is 
 but in a few localities, and even in these favoured spots 
 he does not seem to sing as he does in England. I 
 first heard this remarked by my friend, Mr. A. G. More, 
 and my own experience confirms it; for the bird, as far as 
 I have heard him here, only emits a few rich notes of his 
 delightful song, but does not pause and warble as I have 
 heard him in the sister island. 
 
 I have never been fortunate enough to hear or see the 
 garden warbler, the third member of this most tuneful 
 triad ; but I hope that I may yet have an opportunity of 
 making his acquaintance. 
 
 The song of the tree pipit is a simple, yet a very 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 attractive one; and the redstart, too, has a pleasing ditty, 
 which we are seldom privileged to hear in Ireland. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, our island is much poorer in 
 singing birds than England; nor have our thrushes and 
 blackbirds the opportunity afforded them of improving 
 themselves and enriching their own vocal treasury from 
 the songs of the nightingale and blackcap, &c., of which 
 we find their English brethren making good use. 
 
 Since childhood I have been in the habit of noting the 
 bird voices around me, and, looking back over the long 
 years, three of these always recur to my memory as the 
 happiest and most remarkable of all my experiences. The 
 first was when, a good many years ago, I heard for the first 
 time the blackcap sing near the Suspension Bridge, Clifton. 
 The plaintive and lovely trills with which the song con¬ 
 cluded are still in my ears. The second was when with 
 my boy on the Norfolk Broads, at Horsey, near Martham, 
 we heard the voices of countless reed ■w’arblers, like tiny 
 bells, as they rejoiced in the summer breeze. Every sedge 
 bed seemed full of lowly life, whilst overhead the emblem 
 of death ever and anon was floating in the shape of a large 
 marsh harrier, looking for his prey. The third was when, 
 with that same beloved companion, I heard at the Hague 
 the icterine warbler sing from the lofty trees, whilst the 
 gi-eat reed warbler answered from below with a strain 
 hardly inferior to that of the great musician aloft. All 
 these are sweet and tender memories of times and seasons 
 that cannot come again. 
 
 Very many estimates have been made of the comparative 
 merits of our native songsters. My favourite is the black¬ 
 bird, and next to him I would place the linnet; others 
 prefer the song thrush or the skylark. The pretty gold- 
 
8 
 
 OUE IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 finch charms many hearts with his lovely plumage and his 
 sprightly song, whilst the robin is certainly our most plain¬ 
 tive, and, at the same time, most varied singer. It is a 
 real pleasure to hear the lively twittering swallow; and the 
 artless songs of the gentle willow warbler and the unob¬ 
 trusive hedge sparrow are charged with many affecting 
 memories to me. 
 
 The close observer will note many variations in the songs 
 of birds of the same species; some are much superior to 
 their brethren. Sometimes we hear great performers, 
 especially amongst the song thrushes; and year after year 
 we can see that the blackbird, as he grows older, is making 
 improvements in his song. I can often detect reminiscences 
 of the whitethroat’s warning cry in the skylark’s song, and 
 the sedge warbler’s is a rechauffe of the performances of 
 many of his neighbours. The plaintive notes of the wood- 
 pigeon have been supposed to have a resemblance to the 
 words, “ Take two cows, Davy.” And they say that a 
 thief named David, who was bent upon stealing one, hear¬ 
 ing this apparently approving voice from a lofty tree— 
 “ Take two cows, Davy ”—replied, “ Well, indeed, mister. 
 I’ll take your advice,” and acted accordingly. 
 
 One gentleman of my acquaintance, speaking of this 
 curious adaptation of these well-known notes, said, “ The 
 bird always ends with ‘ Take two cows.’ ” Another was of 
 opinion that the closing phrase was always “ take.” I 
 should be glad to hear the opinion of my readers on this 
 interesting point: my own is already made up. 
 
 Although the titmice and some other birds can hardly be 
 said to sing, still many of their call-notes are extremely 
 pleasing, and serve greatly to enliven our woods and gardens. 
 For these reasons I have thought it well to include them in 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 ray list, together with the cuckoo, swallow, and a few 
 others. In point of fact, it is not always easy to decide what 
 is a song bird, and what is not. Perhaps the most satis¬ 
 factory definition of a song is, first, certain notes peculiar 
 to the male bird, and secondly, uttered by him, for the 
 most part, during the breeding season. 
 
 Of course, there are many exceptions; still the general 
 rules seem to be much as I have stated. The period of 
 singing is mainly the spring, although some birds may be 
 heard at intervals throughout the year. The month of 
 May is pre-eminently the month of song. In June the 
 warblers begin to fall off; in July there are but few singers; 
 whilst August is the mutest month in the year. Alas ! it 
 is in these months alone that I can take my much-needed 
 vacation. 
 
 There are many points of interest to be investigated with 
 regard to the songs of birds: as, for instance, what birds 
 sing at night, and what birds sing whilst flying; which arc 
 the earliest risers, and which the latest to take rest. In 
 order to determine one of these problems, I kept ward and 
 watch with my dear friend, Mr. Samuel Bewley, j.p., on 
 the top of his house at Sandford Hill, on the morning of 
 Tuesday, May 31st, 1881. At 1.45 a.m., we took our 
 places on the slope of the roof, and looked and listened with 
 all our eyes and ears. 
 
 The result was as follows. 
 
 We noted the exact time at 
 
 which we heard the 
 
 song or saw the bird. 
 
 
 
 A.M. 
 
 
 A.M. 
 
 1. Skylark 
 
 . 2.10 
 
 7. Gold Crest . 
 
 . 3.0 
 
 2. Song Thrush. 
 
 . 2.17 
 
 A Rook 
 
 . 3.7 
 
 3. Blackbird 
 
 . 2.19 
 
 9. Great Tit 
 
 . 3.15 
 
 4. Redbreast 
 
 . 2.30 
 
 10. Chaffinch 
 
 . 3.17 
 
 5. Willow Warbler 
 
 . 2.43 
 
 11. Missel Thrush 
 
 . 3.20 
 
 6. Wren . . 
 
 . 2.60 
 
 12. Magpie . 
 
 . 3.22 
 
10 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Here we drew the line, and adjourned to a sumptuous 
 breakfast which awaited us. 
 
 It was remarkable that no sparrows or other small birds 
 were heard or seen on this occasion. Sparrows, I believe, 
 talk often until nearly 5 a.m. before they issue forth, wait¬ 
 ing, doubtless, as Beau Brummel used to do, until the 
 world is aired.” 
 
 The corncrakes, who had been “ rasping ” all round the 
 house from about 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., sank down sleepy and 
 abashed as the lark began his morning song. 
 
 Now, in this case, the old proverb, “ Up with the lark,” 
 was verified, and there was something very striking in the 
 ascent of the bird to greet the first blush of dawn in the 
 east, whilst yet Arcturus, and Wega, and Altair were shining 
 brightly in the sky. 
 
 ‘ ‘ Upsprings the lark, 
 
 Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn ; 
 
 Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings. 
 
 Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 
 Calls up the tuneful nations.” 
 
 I thought, as I listened, that at that hour, all through 
 the length and breadth of the land, these sweet and innocent 
 voices were praising God, and I could fancy that the ear of 
 the great Creator was bent down to listen with pleasure to 
 those glad hymns of praise. Were they the only songs 
 of praise from poor unhappy Ireland that pierced the skies, 
 in that serene and fragrant “ morning watch,” which I 
 shall long remember ? 
 
 We are told that birds spoke an intelligible language in 
 Ovid’s time. Lope de Vega makes one of his characters 
 understand this, and Lord Holland states that there was a 
 gentleman who could tell from the song where the nest 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 11 
 
 was, whether young ones or eggs were in it, and how 
 many of each ! ! 
 
 Now here a difficulty occurs at once. If you could under¬ 
 stand one bird, would you understand all ? Does the 
 hiding hawk, when he hears the sparrows talking, learn 
 where they are to meet in the evening, and say to himself, 
 “ I shall be there for dinner too ” ? Does the roving cuckoo 
 hear that the hedge sparrow’s nest is almost ready, and 
 say, “ How fortunate! for my egg must soon be laid”? If 
 I am acquainted with the language of the tomtit, shall I 
 also be able to understand “sparrowese” or “thrushian”? 
 
 It is probable that “ bird language is an elliptical one, 
 in which little is said, but much is understood.” And again, 
 notes which seem to us to be identical may have delicate 
 shades of meaning inappreciable by human ears. 
 
 Eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey, have shrill and 
 piercing voices. The raven’s solemn note makes the woods 
 resound. 
 
 The crow wdien making love borders on the ridiculous, 
 and the rook’s attempt at a song, although occasionally 
 made, is by no means a success. 
 
 Owls, it has been said, hoot musically in h flat. The 
 cuckoo always sings in a minor third. 
 
 The woodpecker laughs loudly; so does the laughing 
 jackass—feathered and unfeathered. 
 
 The voice of the goose is trumpet-like and clanging; the 
 hiss of the gander is full of menace ; his bite is decidedly 
 painful. 
 
 The turkey struts and gobbles before his lady love in a 
 highly diverting manner; to an adversary his language 
 seems impertinent and ungentlemanlike in the extreme. 
 
 The peacock, like nearly all gaudy birds, hath a shocking 
 squall. 
 
12 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 And here I may remark that nearly all the great songs¬ 
 ters have a sober plumage. It is so with the nightingale, 
 the blackcap, the skylark, the thrush, and others; whilst on 
 the other hand, the gaudy birds are usually without song. 
 
 The females of birds, too, but seldom venture on a song 
 (unless the hen skylark be an exception), and they are 
 plainer than the males; in both these respects differing 
 widely from the females of the human race. 
 
 The loud cries of birds at night are evidently meant to 
 keep them together. The lights of our great cities often 
 attract those aerial wanderers, and high up in the air 
 the cries of wild geese or swans, or the sharp whistle of 
 the widgeon, may be heard by the dwellers below. 
 
 “ The red-throated diver flies at a great height, and may 
 be heard uttering a distressing cry, like that of a young 
 child in great agony; this is at first faint, then grows 
 louder, and dies away in the distance; soon another is 
 heard, and so until day, when the birds betake themselves 
 to the water again.”— Bishop Stanley. 
 
 The question has often been asked, “ Why are birds 
 furnished with voices such as these ? ” and the answer has 
 thus been given: “ Beasts on the earth can discern their 
 companions by sight and smell, nor can they in a few 
 moments wander far apart from one another. But birds 
 are continually diverging from one another, and even when 
 near, many are so small that they are hidden by the foliage 
 of the trees amongst which they rest. Thus a pair of bull¬ 
 finches were closely observed, as they flitted along a green 
 lane, crossing from side to side, the cock slightly in advance 
 of the hen, and it was remarked that the call-note was 
 never heard when the birds were less than fifteen or twenty 
 yards apart.” 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 We are told also that the song of the lark travels further 
 than the bellowing of a bull, and that it has been heard 
 above the roar and rattle of a London street, as, for once at 
 least forsaking the well-known country haunts, it hung 
 poised in air above the great metropolis. 
 
 The period of incubation is the time for music; the 
 missel thrush forming a remarkable exception to the general 
 rule in this respect; and one of the great reasons why the 
 gift of song has been bestowed upon the male, is doubtless 
 that he may cheer and enliven the female during her lonely 
 task; but it is also a note of security, for it suddenl}’ ceases 
 if danger be near, and then the poor female bird cowers 
 low in mute terror, to shield herself and her only treasure 
 from the foe. 
 
 Have pity, then, compassionate Christian, and pass 
 quietly on, nor make desolate that sweet and pleasant 
 home, and of thy charity, in the winter time, spare those 
 innocent creatures a crumb of bread and a drop of water, 
 for this last they need, as much as food and shelter, when 
 the ground is fast bound with frost. 
 
 Some time ago we were visited in Dublin by an individual 
 who described himself as “ The Bird-man,” and who gave 
 vocal imitations of many of our well-known songsters. I 
 thought that some of his imitations were really admirable, 
 in particular the songs of the chaffinch, the canary, the 
 thrush, and the nightingale, whilst his “conversation 
 between two sparrows ” elicited well-deserved laughter and 
 applause. He thus accounted for his skill. His father, 
 who was in the habit of rearing wild birds, had once gone 
 from home, leaving a bag of rice for his children, and a 
 quantity of bird-seed for his feathered friends. By some 
 mistake the rice was given to the birds, and the bird-seed 
 
1 
 
 14 OUR IRISH SONG BIDRS. 
 
 to the children. The consequence was that, on his return, 
 he found all his birds dead, and his children singing like 
 piping bullfinches!! 
 
 No doubt, some birds may be imitated with tolerable 
 success ; there are others which defy all our powers. I 
 do not believe that the man has ever yet lived who could 
 imitate satisfactorily the song of the corn-bunting, and 
 there are many others equally impracticable. 
 
 A great deal has been written about the protective 
 colours of birds, and in many of our feathered friends this 
 is most remarkable. For instance, it is often almost im¬ 
 possible to discern shore birds like the ringed plover and 
 dunlin, until, startled by our approach, they take wing, soon 
 settling down again to become as invisible as before. 
 
 The ptarmigan and the snow bunting inhabit the Arctic 
 regions in the summer; but the ptarmigan is white in 
 winter, and the snow bunting is white in summer. Now, 
 why is this ? The ptarmigan remaining in far northern 
 regions “ so closely resembles surrounding objects that a 
 traveller may often wander through a flock without know¬ 
 ing it; ” but the snow bunting, coming south to winter, ex¬ 
 changes its snowy plumage for a brown or tawny hud, 
 which is its great safeguard when straying along the sandy 
 shore or country roads of the United Kingdom. 
 
 This interesting subject has been very fully and very 
 ably discussed by Mr. Charles Dixon, in his suggestive 
 work, “ Kural Bird Life,” and also in his Introduction to 
 Vol. ii. of Mr. Seebohm’s “ British Birds.” In this latter 
 work he devotes his attention mainly to the protective 
 colour of eggs. I feel sure that my readers will be inte¬ 
 rested by a brief summary of the results at which he has 
 arrived. He divides this peculiar instinct into six divi¬ 
 sions. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 Firstly, CoZowr.—Example : The pheasant. When the 
 female is obliged to leave the nest for food, she covers her 
 eggs with pieces of vegetation strictly harmonizing with the 
 colour of the herbage around. 
 
 Secondly, Mimicry. —Example : The chaffinch. She 
 imitates the surroundings in the structure of her nest; it 
 is beautifully silvered over with lichen if on the branch of 
 a tree thus covered. In the centre of a hawthorn she gilds 
 her handiwork with scraps of paper, so that the whole 
 structure to a casual eye appears a tangled mass of bloom. 
 
 Thirdly, Silence. —Silence is the forte of birds such as 
 the willow wren and the whitethroat when they leave their 
 nests, threading cautiously their way from their treasure, 
 and almost, one might say, on tiptoe; whilst at a safe dis¬ 
 tance they are garrulous enough. 
 
 Fourthly, Alluring Motions. — See how the sandpiper 
 endeavours to concentrate all our attention upon herself, 
 reeling and tumbling as if inviting us to the chase. So, 
 too, the lapwing, with apparently broken wings and mourn¬ 
 ful cries, endeavours to tempt us far from her lowly nesting- 
 place on the dreary moor. 
 
 Fifthly, Pugnacious Motions. —These are to a great 
 extent necessarily restricted to their natural enemies, whilst 
 against man they must of course be a failure. The missel 
 thrush is a fine type of this protective instinct; the magpie, 
 nay, even the sparrow-hawk, often fares badly when pitted 
 against this gallant antagonist. The ring ousel will even 
 dash fearlessly into the face of a man should he approach 
 her nest with its priceless contents. The titmice, too, will 
 not spare the prying schoolboy, but will often cause him 
 tp remember the prowess of the well-known Billy- 
 biter.” 
 
16 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Sixthly, Deceptive Motions .—The lark, descending from 
 the sky, darts suddenly downwards to the nest, as we sup¬ 
 pose ; but not so, but at a safe distance from it, pursuing 
 the rest of her way on foot. The whinchat and starling act 
 much in the same way. 
 
 I hope that my readers may be able, from personal ob¬ 
 servation, not only to avouch the strict truth of these 
 remarks, but also to add to the interesting list which may 
 be found in the books I have named. 
 
 The well-known fact that the plumage of the female is 
 nearly always of a duller hue than that of the male, is 
 doubtless connected with their mode of nesting, and thus 
 the sitting bird is protected by the harmony between its 
 own plumage and the colour of the surroundings of the 
 nest. 
 
 The male stonechat is one of our prettiest birds ; his 
 less attractive spouse is, for that very reason, when on the 
 nest, more safe than he could ever be. Strangely enough, 
 in the case of a very few birds, such as the dotterel and 
 the phalaropes, where the female is more showy than 
 the male, the latter performs the duty of incubation. 
 All these birds build open nests; but birds in which both 
 sexes are highly coloured rear their young in holes or 
 covered nests ; of these, the woodpecker and the kingfisher 
 are conspicuous instances. 
 
 Domed nests are built not merely for concealment, but 
 for other purposes ; that of the dipper, for example, in 
 order that her eggs and young may be protected from the 
 spray which flies so freely around. 
 
 Mr. Dixon also is of opinion that when the females are 
 duller in colour than the male, and yet the nest is covered, 
 the reason may be found in the fact that as in the case of 
 
INTEODUCTION.; 17 
 
 the redstart, the bright-plumaged male assists in no small 
 degree in the task of incubation. 
 
 Very remarkable, too, is the way in which the young 
 ones of brilliant-coloured parents are preserved from danger 
 by their own sombre plumage. Upon the least alarm, the 
 parents leave their young ones, who crouch low on the 
 ground, silent and motionless, and thus are safe. 
 
 “ Thus has nature beautifully supplied these feathered 
 creatures with instinct sufficient to baffle in most cases their 
 natural enemies—instinct which is so artfully put in force 
 as to baffle even man himself, gifted as he is with noble 
 reasoning powers, which enable him to be the superior and 
 master of every other living creature.-’^ 
 
 I have often thought that it might be possible to take a 
 census of our birds, of course, only very much in the rough; 
 and I see that the same idea has occurred to ornithologists 
 of much higher pretensions than myself. Would it not 
 be possible, for instance, for a score of observers to listen 
 at a pre-arranged hour to the various songs of birds on a 
 fine spring morning in some Irish county, and then try 
 another in a day or two afterwards, and so on ? In some 
 respects it does not seem to be a much harder thing to do 
 than for astronomers to calculate the number of shooting 
 stars in August or November. Still, doubtless, there are 
 peculiar difficulties in the matter, and I do not think that 
 there is much probability of its ever being done, unless 
 indeed the fact that few manors will yield to the gun an 
 average of more than one bird to the acre can be taken as 
 a basis. 
 
 The most abundant bird in Ireland is, I think, the 
 chaffinch; then come the sparrow, the robin, and the wren. 
 The flocks of rooks and starlings which are sometimes seen 
 
 0 
 
18 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 are, however, enough to upset most of the calculations upon 
 which we had previously relied. 
 
 My kind friend. Rev. F. 0. Morris, some time since 
 showed me a letter from Lord Kimberley, in which he stated 
 that the fauna of Wymondham Park, his Norfolk seat, 
 included 143 birds. This was, however, surpassed by what 
 I was afterwards told by Mr. Risings, that the fauna of 
 Horsey, near Martham, also in the County Norfolk, com¬ 
 prised the enormous number of 158 different species. The 
 glories of Walton Hall pale before such a host. 
 
 In an ordinary walk in the country, I generally meet 
 with about twenty varieties in winter, and perhaps thirty 
 in summer, when the migrants are abroad. The greatest 
 number I have noted in one day was fifty-one, and this both 
 at Beaumaris and in the Isle of Wight; of course, I reckon 
 the birds I hear, as well as those I see, when I am abroad. 
 In the Malahide district, comprising both shore and in¬ 
 land birds, I have met with more than forty in a walk of 
 three or four hours. 
 
 There are but two ways of identifying birds—by seeing 
 them and by hearing them; to those who are not gifted 
 with a musical ear the latter mode is impossible, and even 
 persons with some musical taste are very frequently unable 
 to discriminate between the songs of the missel thrush and 
 blackbird, or of the willow warbler and the wren. No 
 doubt, this is the result of inattention. In Ireland, how¬ 
 ever, there are other difficulties in the identification of birds, 
 which arise mainly from two sources. First: the difficulty 
 of procuring books upon the subject. Mr. Thompson's 
 “ Birds of Ireland”—a truly valuable and almost exhaus¬ 
 tive work—is now out of print. Were such a man as 
 Mr. A. G. More to do for it what Professor Newton has 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 19 
 
 done for Yarrell’s “ British Birds,” he would confer a boon 
 upon the community. The only other book is Mr. Watters' 
 pleasant and chatty little volume; but this, too, is no longer 
 to be had, save in the auction room, and this on rare 
 occasions. Secondly: the native nomenclature differs so 
 widely from the scientific that it is often impossible to 
 ascertain what bird is meant when we are told its rural or 
 provincial name. We hear of the Felt, the Big Felt, and 
 the Blue Felt, the Jay (but not our Jay), the Eeefogue, the 
 Philippine, Sallypicker, Thorngrey, Jink, and many others. 
 
 People stare when they are told that there are no crows 
 in Ireland, no cranes, no woodpeckers—that the blackcap, a 
 name given to several birds, is not rightly given to any of 
 those so called—that the hedge sparrow is not a sparrow, 
 nor is the green linnet a linnet. 
 
 As regards the study of Natural History, we are doubtless 
 a good deal behind our English 'brethren. Here the orni¬ 
 thologist is usually regarded as a harmless, good-natured 
 sort of person, but slightly cracked. In England he is 
 considered an intelligent and praiseworthy individual, who 
 knows a little more than some of his neighbours. The 
 contrast struck me a good deal when I applied some time 
 since for leave to bring dur Field Club through a certain 
 demesne in Ireland, and received a letter from the pro¬ 
 prietor according us permission to drive through it; whilst, 
 on the other hand, when staying with my old friend and 
 pupil. Dr. Barton, at Aldborough, near Norwich, some years 
 ago, I was courteously invited by the proprietor to walk 
 through the coverts of Oulton Hall, and, when I accepted 
 the invitation, was received most hospitably by its owner, 
 who asked me anxiously every now and then whether t 
 heard or saw anything out of the common, and was rejoiced 
 
20 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 when my boy and I were able to identify the wood warbler, 
 a bird then new to us both, although I had once or twice 
 before heard it sing in North Wales. 0 si sic omnes ! 
 
 And now let me conclude this rambling Introduction by 
 a few practical hints upon the best methods of observing 
 birds and gaining a knowledge of the different species we 
 may hear and see around us. 
 
 I. Begin in your own garden, and endeavour to identify 
 from its appearance and song every bird that dwells there. 
 This may be done by the aid of such a book as Morris’ or 
 Johns’ “ British Birds,” and, I hope, in some degree by 
 the little hook now in your hands. 
 
 Here at Elm Park, not half a mile from the city of 
 Dublin, I have carefully noted the species for the last few 
 years, and find that our fauna comprises no less than 
 thirty-six varieties, viz. :—Sparrow-hawk; rook, jackdaw, 
 magpie, song thrush, missel thrush, blackbird, redwing, 
 willow warbler, chiff-chaff, whitethroat, spotted fly-catcher, 
 swallow, swift, robin, wren, hedge sparrow, gold-crest, 
 great tit, blue tit, coal tit, long-tailed tit, creeper, green¬ 
 finch, chaffinch, goldfinch (?), bullfinch, redpoll, pied wag¬ 
 tail, grey wagtail, starling, meadow pipit, yellow bunting, 
 sparrow, wood-pigeon, common gull. 
 
 Birds are, as a rule, heard singing to great advantage 
 after soft spring rain : the blackbird sings best during a 
 heavy shower. A really lovely summer-like day, with 
 fleecy clouds overhead, is a day of many songs; but a 
 stormy day seems to be the worst of all as regards bird 
 music. On harsh, squally, ungenial days it is of little use 
 to go out to hear the songsters, unless we are satisfied with 
 a very few, such as the gallant missel thrush, who seems 
 to delight in braving the storm. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 21 
 
 The morning and the evening are the best times for 
 eong. In the heat of the day many bird-voices are alto¬ 
 gether silent; but in the evening they may be heard in 
 every suitable locality, yet not, I think, with the same 
 beauty and freshness as in the early morning, when, unfor- 
 tunatel^y, there are so few to listen. At about 3 a.m. in 
 May and June one can hear a babel of tuneful voices, in 
 which in Ireland the blackbird’s seems to be the bass or 
 ground tone, deeper and stronger than the rest which float 
 above it in the tender morning air. 
 
 II. Walk out in quiet localities, with one or two friends, 
 not more ; avoid talking, if posable; and instead of roam¬ 
 ing about, sit down quietly uqder some tree, and wait for 
 the birds to come to you, as in most cases they will readily 
 do. 
 
 III. Bring a good field-glass with you; this is invalu¬ 
 able, as you can then carefully study the birds without the 
 risk of disturbing them. 
 
 IV. Look over gates and walls quietly. It was thus I 
 saw the green woodpecker for the first time near Beauma¬ 
 ris. I had heard its strange cry—“ glu—glu—gluck,^^ 
 but could not identify the bird, until, glancing over a 
 gate, I saw it sitting on a rail close by. As soon as it 
 saw that it was observed, it took flight. 
 
 V. Note down your observations, no matter how unim- 
 2 }ortant they may seem to be, carefully preserving the dates 
 and localities; these may lead to useful and interesting 
 discoveries afterwards. 
 
 I have said that August is probably one of the mutest 
 months in the year. It would seem, however, from the 
 table given at the end of the book, containing the result of 
 I)r. Kinahan’s interesting observations, that September is 
 
22 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 even a more silent month in Ireland; whilst january and 
 February, the severest months of the year, are enlivened 
 by a much larger number of bird-songs. 
 
 The most constant singer is the robin; he may be heard 
 for eleven months in the year, being silent only in August. 
 The song thrush probably comes next, with ten months’ 
 singing to his credit, omitting August and September 
 only. The blackbird may be heard almost, but not quite 
 so frequently, I think, as the thrush ; whilst the skylark, 
 the chaffinch, and the wren follow closely upon our list; 
 indeed, I am not sure that I should not bracket this latter 
 bird with the robin, as Dr. Kinahan does, were it not that, 
 as far as my own experience goes, it is not as frequent a 
 songster, nor does it always sing in exceptionally severe 
 weather, when the snow lies thick on the ground, and poor 
 robin’s is the only music we hear. 
 
 I trust that my readers may act upon these few sugges¬ 
 tions, and observe systematically the birds in their neigh¬ 
 bourhood, wherever their lot may be cast. If they will but 
 do this, they may possibly be the means of adding now and 
 then a new bird to our Irish fauna ; for Ireland is still in 
 many places a country unexplored by the ornithologist. 
 
 The robin, the thrush, the wren, may be heard all the 
 year round; but in the early springtime our foreign 
 musicians begin to an-ive, and fresh and tender voices, 
 heard last, it may be, at “ Afric’s sunny fountains,” 
 proclaim that the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, 
 and the time of the singing of birds is come.” Let us note 
 the arrival of these aerial voyagers, and find fresh pleasure 
 and delight, as we listen to those sweet and innocent 
 voices praising God. They pray, for so Job hath it 
 (xxxviii. 41): “ The young ravens cry unto God.” And they 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 23 
 
 also praise Him: “ 0 ye birds that sing among the 
 branches, beasts, and all cattle, creeping things and flying 
 fowl, praise ye the Lord, and magnify Him for ever.” 
 
 Happy are they to whom the bird-songs of spring bring 
 pleasant thoughts and tender memories of boyish days and 
 country rambles with old friends and comrades now far 
 away, or, it may be, at rest for ever in the green churchyard, 
 where the innocent minstrels often breathe their sweetest 
 strains, and seem to sing of hope, and joy, and life beyond 
 the grave. 
 
 How truly it has been said, that as in the woods at 
 night-time all is silent, though on every side the songsters 
 lie close till the sun arise, and with his advent their bright 
 and charming songs are poured forth from joyful hearts; 
 so, too, is it in the soul of man. All is dark and silent 
 until the Sun of Eighteousness arise with healing in His 
 wings, bringing freedom, and love, and joy, and sweet songs 
 of praise from hearts at peace with God. 
 
 Often and often have I said to myself, “ Will there be 
 birds in heaven ? ” And although I may not answer this, 
 yet I know that there will be hearts as blithe and guileless, 
 and sweeter tongues by far amongst the great multitude 
 that yet shall sing “ the song of Moses and the Lamb.” 
 
OUE lEISH SONG BIEDS. 
 
 MISSEL TimUSH. 
 
 Tardus viscivorus; Merle Draine ; Mistel Drossel. 
 
 Storm Cock ; Holm Thrush; Holm Screech; Penn y 
 Llwyn, “ Master of the Coppice Jay ; Big Felt. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; space between bill and eyes, greyish- 
 white; head, neck, and nape, greyish-brown; chin, throat, 
 and breast, yellowish-wEite, with deep brown spots ; outer 
 tail feathers, tipped with white. Length, eleven inches. 
 
 The Missel Thrush may be distinguished from the 
 song thrush by its superior size and higher, bolder 
 flight, which is somewhat undulating, three or four beats 
 of the wing being followed by a pause. Most people 
 imagine that but one kind of thrush is to be met 
 with in Ireland, and they are greatly surprised when 
 they are informed that no fewer than seven different 
 species of thrushes may be reckoned in our Irish fauna. 
 The Missel Thrush is usually confounded with the 
 song thrush, or if not, called, as it is most frequently 
 in the country, the jay or the big felt, it is supposed not 
 
MISSEL THRUSH. 
 
 25 
 
 to be a tbrusb at all. I hope, however, that a few plain 
 directions may enable my readers to distinguish between 
 the different members of the thrush family, and that the 
 song of the Missel Thrush, heard, as it usually is, in the 
 severest months of the year, may awaken in their minds 
 pleasant anticipations of coming spring and summer. 
 
 The Missel Thrush is the largest of European songsters, 
 as the gold-crest is the smallest; it is widely diffused 
 throughout Ireland, and is very common in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Dublin, where it may readily be seen and heard. 
 
 Missel Thrushes are said to be more numerous in winter 
 than in summer, although, according to Mr. Thompson, 
 the reverse is the case at Belfast. I have seen large flocks 
 of thrushes in severe weather in the Phoenix Park, and, 
 examining them carefully through a glass, have discovered 
 that they were Missel Thrushes and redwings ; the largest 
 and smallest of the thrush kind thus fraternizing in “ the 
 hard times.” 
 
 . It has been said that of late years the Missel Thrush is 
 “ elbowing out ” the song thrush, if such a phrase be 
 permissible when applied to a bird ; and no doubt, in the 
 Arctic winter, 1878-9, the song thrushes died in hundreds, 
 whilst their hardier brethren survived ; but I am inclined 
 to think that during the last two or three years, the Missel 
 Thrush has by no means gained ground. 
 
 Although the Missel Thrush derives its name from a 
 supposed fondness for the berries of the mistletoe, the 
 hawthorn seems to be preferred by the bird, and hawthorn 
 woods are sure to be tenanted by numbers of Missel 
 Thrushes. The berries of the mountain ash, holly, and 
 ivy form the staple food of this bird, to which it adds 
 worms, slugs, snails, and beetles, with occasionally a little 
 
26 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 grain. It is credited also with some little devotion at 
 times to garden fruit, and, more culpable still, is believed 
 occasionally to prey upon young birds. 
 
 That the services of the Missel Thrush to the gardener 
 are by no means small may be inferred from the fact that 
 to a nest of three young ones sixty-six journeys were 
 counted by Mr. Weir during the day, the birds bringing 
 snails and slugs on each occasion. 
 
 The hoarse “ grakle ’’-like note of the Missel Thrush is 
 much more frequently heard than his song, which consists 
 of five notes only, said by the author of Echoes from the 
 Counties, to resemble the words “ d-e-a-r—d-e-a-r— 
 d-e-a-r—d-e-a-r—d-e-a-r.” I have, however, heard a 
 Missel Thrush whose song was, “ Ho, he, ho, hee, ho,” 
 repeatedly uttered, in a loud, wild, whistling tone. The 
 song is more likely to be confounded with that of the 
 blackbird than that of the soifg thrush; its sameness 
 will, however, lead to its speedy detection. The harsh, 
 grating call-note resembles somewhat the sound of a 
 child’s rattle, and also a note frequently uttered by the 
 wren. 
 
 From its habit of singing in stormy weather, the Missel 
 Thrush gets its familiar name of “ Storm Cock.” The 
 author of Echoes from the Counties thus describes this 
 habit:— 
 
 “ One of the very first to herald the soothe season is the 
 gallant Storm Cock, largest and most stout-hearted of our 
 song birds. Long before his cousins-german the feldtfare 
 and the vindedrossel have set sail for their ancestral 
 Scandinavian home, he and his mate have selected the 
 wind-rocked cross-tree upon which to lash their new wicker 
 cradle. There, with well-grounded confidence in their 
 
MISSEL THEUSH. 
 
 27 
 
 vessel, the hardy pair defy the gale, and take command, 
 screeching harsh watchwords, like Danes from the wet 
 deck of a lumbering sluppe, at the driving fleet of rooks, 
 who, heeding the warning, cease their clamour, and beat 
 cautiously to windward, to gain a safe offing and scud 
 rapidly away. AVhen all is snug and ship-shape, and 
 the vessel rocks smoothly in a steady breeze, the jovial 
 master-mariner takes his call-pipe, and, mounting the top¬ 
 most mast, lets slip down the whispering gale a stave or 
 two of wild music.^’ 
 
 The song usually begins in February, and ceases early in 
 spring; for the Missel Thrush alone of British songsters is 
 silent during the period of incubation. 
 
 It is well known that the Missel Thrush is of a peculiarly 
 bold and intrepid disposition. I had a striking proof of 
 this when, some years ago, walking along the banks of the 
 River Dodder with my ffiend, J. Hunter Stokes, a hen 
 chaffinch, closely pursued by a sparrow-hawk, almost 
 brushed against us. We watched the birds as they glanced 
 hither and thither, believing that the chaffinch’s last hour 
 was come, when in a moment a Missel Thrush pounced 
 down upon the hawk, and so scared and baffled him that 
 he flew oft' discomfited, whilst his gallant adversary, 
 mounting a high tree on the other side of the river, poured 
 forth a loud song of triumph. 
 
 I was forcibly reminded of this incident when reading in 
 Mr. Dresser’s great work a translation of an article written 
 by M. Vian, a French ornithologist. He says that the 
 Missel Thrush and chaffinch always nest in company, and 
 that he has never found a Missel Thrush’s nest in France 
 without finding a chafiinch^s in the same or in the next 
 tree. His explanation of this curious fact is that both the 
 
28 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Missel Thrush and the chaffinch begin to breed about the 
 end of March, shortly after the magpie, and before most 
 other birds. Now, in April the magpie is searching for 
 nests to plunder for her young ones, and in these two, and 
 these two alone, she can find the necessary spoil; they are 
 readily seen, as the trees are then comparatively hare of 
 foliagej and would fall a speedy prey, were it not that the 
 wary chaffinch is always ready to give notice of the approach 
 of the enemy, and the Missel Thrush is then at once pre¬ 
 pared to give him battle: thus vigilance and courage are 
 happily combined. Mr. Dresser is desirous of knowing 
 whether anything has been observed in our own country. 
 I venture to think that the little incident I have mentioned 
 seems to imply that the alliance between the two birds is 
 not limited to the continent, but extends to our island 
 shores as well. 
 
 The nest consists of twigs and grasses, with a bowl of 
 mud within, and a final lining of grasses. The eggs, 
 usually four or five in number, vary very much in appear¬ 
 ance, but are generally bluish-green, mottled with brown. 
 The nest is sometimes placed near the ground, and at 
 other times as high up as sixty feet from it. 
 
 SONG THRUSH. 
 
 Turdus musicus; Meiie grive; Sing Drossel. 
 Throstle; Mavis ; Grey Bird. 
 
 Bill and feet, brown ; head, neck, and back, olive brown ; 
 chin, throat, and breast, whitish ; the latter spotted with 
 dark brown ; tail, somewhat rounded. Length, eight inches 
 and a-half. 
 
SONG THRUSH. 
 
 29 
 
 The Song Thrush is the best known and most widely 
 distributed of the thrush kind, and is probably the most 
 popular songster in Ireland, the skylark hardly excepted. 
 Everyone knows the song of the thrush, or thinks he does, 
 for many cannot distinguish between it and the song of 
 the blackbird, although they are so widely different. Gay, 
 tuneful, hardy, and harmless, the Song Thrush is justly a 
 favourite everywhere; and the occasional damage he may 
 do by eating a few currants or raspberries in the summer 
 is more than repaid by the constant havoc he makes among 
 the snails and slugs, and by his delightful voice. 
 
 The Song Thrush is not gregarious, like his brethren the 
 missel thrush, the fieldfare, and the redwing, for more 
 than two are seldom seen together. In this respect he 
 resembles most his confrere and ally, the blackbird. 
 
 The snail is the Song Thrush’s favourite dish. Whether 
 this diet has a beneficial effect upon his vocal powers, I 
 know not; but I remember that, when a boy, I often heard 
 that a compound of snails was exceedingly good for a cold. 
 And a French gentleman of my acquaintance told me some 
 years ago that the boys of a neighbouring school robbed 
 the garden of its molluscs to afford him a treat, which a 
 countryman of his own hastened to share, observing, as he 
 entered the house, in pleasant anticipation, “ I hear dat 
 you have de snail.The sound of the thrush hammering 
 the snail’s shell on some convenient stone may often be 
 heard as you pass some country road; and if you look 
 cautiously over the ditch, you will see him hard at work ; 
 whilst the heap of broken shells around will tell you that 
 is not the first time, nor the second either, that he has 
 selected this stone for his dinner-table. 
 
30 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Another habit of the Song Thrush, vouched for by some 
 naturalists, has often attracted attention and created some 
 amusement as well. He is often seen, as he runs upon 
 the lawn, to place his ear in an apparently listening atti¬ 
 tude, and then to leap from the ground; the reason is 
 quickly obvious: he has heard a worm threading its way 
 a little below the surface, and when it ventures just to take 
 one glance above, to ascertain the cause of the unwonted 
 disturbance, the thrush seizes its head, and drags it trium¬ 
 phantly from its lurking-place, to return no more. It is 
 said that the lapwing occasionally acts in the same 
 manner. 
 
 The Song Thrush is silent only for a short time 
 throughout the year. A fine soft day even in November 
 or December nearly always tempts him to sing. In Feb¬ 
 ruary, however, his regular spring song begins, and for 
 about five months he continues to delight us, especially in 
 the early morning and in the evening, with his well-known 
 ditty, which is interrupted only by the approach of the 
 moulting season. The bird, when in full song, will some¬ 
 times for a long time remain perched on the same bough, 
 as he pours forth his delightful melody ; and day after day, 
 if undisturbed, he may be seen and heard in the same 
 place. His familiar song is said to combine in a greater 
 degree than that of any other British bird the three 
 great requisites of power, variety, and quality of tone. I 
 must confess, however, that, for my own part, I prefer the 
 blackbird’s simpler, but yet, I think, more eloquent and 
 heart-touching strain. 
 
 Many of the utterances of the Song Thrush strongly re¬ 
 semble articulate words and phrases. Macgillivray thus 
 renders it:— 
 
SONG THRUSH. 
 
 31 
 
 Dear, dear, dear! 
 
 Is the rocky glen, 
 
 Far away, far away, far away. 
 
 From the haunts of men. 
 
 Here shall we dw'ell in love. 
 
 With the lark and the dove. 
 
 Cuckoo and land rail; 
 
 Feast on the banded snail, 
 
 Worm and gilded fly, 
 
 Drink of the crystal rill, 
 
 Winding adown the hill, 
 
 Never to dry. 
 
 With glee, with glee, with glee, 
 
 Cheer up, cheer up, cheer up; here 
 Nothing to harm us ; then sing merrily. 
 
 Sing to the loved one, whose nest is near. 
 
 Qui, qui, qui, kween, quip, 
 
 Tiurrn, tiurrn, chipiwi, 
 
 Too-tee, too-te, chin-choo, 
 
 Chivi, chivi, choo-ee, 
 
 Qui, qui, qui.” 
 
 Mr. Buckland, in his edition of White’s Selhorne, gives 
 the following as the substance of part of a thrush’s song, 
 as described by Mr. Davy, a well-know^n London bird- 
 catcher :— 
 
 “ Knee deep, knee deep, knee deep, 
 
 Cheriy du, cherry du, cherry du, cherry du, 
 
 White hat, white hat; 
 
 Pretty Joey, pretty Joey, pretty Joey, pretty Joey.” 
 
 I think that both of these are excellent representations 
 of phrases in the song of the thrush. Another very frequent 
 utterance is— 
 
 Sit ye down, sit ye down.” 
 
32 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Hence the bird has been sometimes called the “ sit-ye- 
 down.^^ An Elm Park thrush over and over again re¬ 
 peated a phrase which sounded like Mr. Bewley, Bewley, 
 Bewley^ Bewley”—a name held in high repute in our neigh¬ 
 bourhood, and, indeed, everywhere in Dublin. 
 
 High upon a tree, we are told that the Song Thrush 
 often sits and sings, “ with his eyes half-closed, as if he 
 were at prayers,” as, indeed, he probably is. When a 
 cat is in the neighbourhood, or when otherwise greatly 
 alarmed, the thrush often utters some loud notes which 
 somewhat resemble those of the blackbird when disturbed, 
 or rather “ hac, hac, hac; ” when quietly on the wing, a 
 short “ chip ” is heard, as he flits rapidly overhead. 
 
 “ A thruslPs day ” has been thus described by a gentle¬ 
 man w'ho closely watched the birds from morning until 
 night, from a carefully constructed hiding-place, hard by a 
 thruslPs nest : — 
 
 2.30 a.m., the birds began to feed their young ones. 
 4.30 a.m., the young birds had been fed thirty-six times. 
 5 a.m., all the little ones were awake and “preening” 
 (pruning) their feathers. One of the young birds fell out of 
 the nest, and the old ones set up a doleful lamentation, 
 whereupon the gentleman came out of his hiding-place, and 
 restored the nestling. His appearance, however, discon¬ 
 certed the old ones, and he was obliged to feign departure 
 before their confidence could be restored. 9.30 p.m., the 
 young ones had been fed 206 times. 
 
 In times like the present, it would go hard with us if 
 our little ones required such abundant sustenance, and we 
 should find our vocabulary insufficient to particularise such 
 frequent meals. 
 
 Mr. Thompson mentions a curious fact observed by him 
 
REDWING. 
 
 83 
 
 at Wolf-bill in 1847, namely, “ that on wet days the male 
 bird invariably fed the young, the female leaving the nest 
 on his approach, and going to almost a yard’s distance 
 from it during the time her mate was so employed. On 
 fine days the female fed them, and the male perched on 
 the top of a neighbouring tall tree."’ 
 
 The nest is usually found in the first week of March, 
 and then generally placed amongst evergreens. After¬ 
 wards, however, it may be looked for in the hedgerows, 
 the whitethorn being a favourite place; sometimes, how¬ 
 ever, it is found high up in the trees. Of the architecture 
 Mr. Johns says : “ The bird displays her skill as a basket- 
 maker, a mason, and a plasterer—her only instruments her 
 beak and her rounded breast. The outer case of twigs is 
 succeeded by a layer of cow-dung, cemented with saliva. 
 The cup-like chamber is lined wdth stucco, made from 
 decayed wood, and a circular bowl is constructed suffi¬ 
 ciently compact to exclude air and water, as true and as 
 finely finished as if it had been moulded on a potter’s wheel, 
 or turned on a lathe. 
 
 The eggs, four or five in number, are of a greenish-blue 
 colour, spotted with deep brown. Several broods are pro¬ 
 duced in the year, and both cock and hen sit upon the 
 eggs and young. 
 
 REDWING. 
 
 Tardus Iliacus; Merle Mauvis; Rothdrossel. 
 Swinepipe ; Wind Thrush ; Felt. 
 
 Bill, brownish-black; upper plumage, dark olive-brown, 
 white streak above the eye; breast, greyish-white, with 
 
34 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 brown spots; under wing coverts and flanks, bright orange- 
 red. Length, about eight inches. 
 
 The Redwing is our smallest thrush. It arrives in this 
 country somewhat earlier than the fieldfare, probably 
 because it feels the approach of winter in the northern 
 regions more keenly than its hardier congener. 
 
 If the fieldfare most resembles the missel thrush, the 
 Redwing and the song thrush are very nearly alike. The 
 former may, however, always be distinguished from the 
 latter by the broad white stripe over the eye, and by the 
 bright reddish colour on the sides, and on the under wing 
 coverts, which give the bird its name. 
 
 The Redwing is a gregarious bird, and may be seen in 
 large flocks, in much the same localities as the fieldfare ; 
 it is, however, the least shy of the thrushes, and may 
 sometimes be found on the very confines of our cities and 
 large towns. In very cold weather I have seen Redwings 
 here perching in trees just over the tram line, which passes 
 our gate, and, no doubt, ready to pick up any food to be 
 found on the road beneath. 
 
 The Redwing does not breed in this country, and we 
 have not, for this reason, an opportunity of hearing its 
 renowned song. In more northern countries, however, it 
 has won the title of the “Swedish Nightingale;” and 
 Linnaeus, in his Tour in Lapland, tells us that “ the 
 amorous warblings of the Redwing, from the top of the 
 spruce fir, were delightful; its high and varied notes rival 
 those of the nightingale herself.” Latterly, however, it 
 has been said that this description is a good deal exagge¬ 
 rated, and that the term “Swedish Nightingale” is slightly 
 ironical; that the song is merely something like the 
 syllables, “ tut, tut, tut,” repeated in a descending scale. 
 
FIELDFARE. 
 
 35 
 
 and then followed by a kind of inward twittering or 
 warbling. This “ inward warbling,” or “ twittering,” is 
 the final part of the song, and may often be heard in this 
 country when the bird is preparing to depart in the early 
 spring. 
 
 Some years ago I heard it in a soft and subdued chorus 
 from a number of Redwings near Castleknock, Co. Dublin, 
 and very delightful it seemed to me to be. Last year I 
 heard it again, proceeding from a great flock at Hollywood; 
 a similar, but even sweeter, chorus may often be heard 
 from flocks of that charming songster, the linnet. The 
 common note of this bird, however, has been well described 
 by Mr. Slaney as “ a sort of inward deep-drawn sigh, like 
 an attempt at ventriloquism.” I have heard a schoolboy de¬ 
 scribe it as “the screech of a pencil on a slate,” and thought 
 it a good deal like the reality. We hear it constantly over¬ 
 head as we walk along the frost-bound road, and, looking up, 
 see tl)e Redwings, something like starlings, scudding by, or 
 perching in the highest branches of the trees; at night 
 great flocks rest together in the evergreens and thickets all 
 through the country. 
 
 As the Redwing does not breed in this country, it is un¬ 
 necessary to describe its nest and eggs. 
 
 FIELDFARE. 
 
 TUrdus Pilaris ; Merle Litoriie; Wachholder Drossel ; 
 Juniper Thrush. 
 
 Felt; Big Felt; Feltyfare; Blue Felt. 
 
 Bill, brownish-black; head, nape, and lower part of 
 neck, ash-grey; upper part of back, chestnut-brown; 
 
36 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 breast, light yellowish-red, with dark spots; white streak 
 above the eye; abdomen, and under wing coverts, white. 
 Length, about ten inches. May be distinguished from the 
 missel thrush by the bluish colour on the back of the head, 
 darker back, and white lower plumage. 
 
 The Fieldfare is one of three migratory thrushes who 
 visit Ireland regularly every year. Why they are migratory, 
 whilst the missel thrush, song thrush, and blackbird are 
 resident all the year round, no one can tell. In their food 
 and their habits generally they resemble the other thrushes; 
 they differ from them only in the short stay they make 
 in these islands. Of the three, the Fieldfare and the red¬ 
 wing are winter visitors; they do not breed in this country, 
 and for this reason especially they do not sing, save in 
 exceptional cases. The ring ousel, on the contrary, is a 
 summer migrant, arriving shortly after the departure of 
 the Fieldfare and redwing for more northern regions, and 
 leaving us just before their return in the autumn. As a 
 summer visitor, he breeds and sings during his stay 
 amongst us. The Fieldfare has been known to arrive 
 in this country as early as October 14, and to remain to 
 the end of April. Shortly after their arrival they may be 
 seen in large flocks in the open fields, and may be readily 
 distinguished from the missel thrush, which they most 
 resemble, by the blue patch on the back of the head, the 
 dark marks under the eye, and the Avhite under plumage. 
 
 The Fieldfare is a shy bird, and, save in very severe 
 winters, will hardly permit a nearer approach than a dis¬ 
 tance of one hundred yards. A very trying season, how¬ 
 ever, makes the poor birds weaker and tamer also, and 
 hundreds are sometimes starved to death, if the snow 
 continues long upon the ground. All around Dublin this 
 
BLACKBIRD. 
 
 37 
 
 fine bird may be easily seen and observed in the winter 
 months. Wilder and shyer than the redwing, it does not 
 actually enter the suburbs ; but it abounds in the country 
 nearFinglas, Mulhuddart, Tallaght, and indeed everywhere 
 that food can be procured. 
 
 Fieldfares have much the same tastes as the other 
 thrushes. In hawthorn berries they delight. In very 
 severe winters, however, they sometimes attack the turnip 
 fields, where they occasionally do some damage. To me 
 the Fieldfare seems one of the finest of our familiar birds, 
 standing erect with a keen, watchful glance, and ready, on 
 the slightest alarm, to fly away to some secure resting- 
 place. 
 
 BLACKBIRD. 
 
 Tiu'dus Merida ; Merle noir; Schwarz Drossel. 
 
 Plumage, wdiolly black; bill, bright orange. Female, 
 reddish-brown on breast; head, neck, and back, blackish- 
 brown. Length, ten inches. 
 
 This well-known and favourite songster is common in 
 most parts of Ireland. He has been found occasionally 
 even in such lonely spots as Rathlin, the Copeland Isles, 
 and xAilsa Craig. His once common names of Ousel and 
 Merle seem now almost forgotten, and he is known as the 
 Blackbird in all parts of the United Kingdom. Although 
 members of the thrush family, the ousels difier from the 
 thrushes proper in one striking respect, viz.: the females 
 are not of the same colour as the males, and both are 
 without any streaks on the throat. 
 
88 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The food of the Blackbird resembles that of the song 
 thrush, to which he is indeed closely allied. In spring 
 and summer he feeds upon worms, snails, slugs, larvae, and 
 seeds. Of fruit also he is decidedly fond; gooseberries, 
 blackberries, and, above all things, cherries, are highly 
 appreciated. In winter his fare is principally composed of 
 wheat, oats, the berries of the hawthorn, the holly, and 
 others then in season. A great outcry is often raised 
 against the poor Blackbird on account of the fruit he is 
 supposed to have taken from the garden in spring and 
 summer. Surely he who would grudge him a few cherries 
 hath “ no music in his soul,^^ or he would not deal so 
 churlishly with the sable musician. It is probable, how¬ 
 ever, that, quite independently of his vocal attractions, the 
 Blackbird confers solid obligations upon the gardener, and 
 so deserves rather his commendation than his condemna¬ 
 tion. In support of this view, Mr. Adams, in his Smaller 
 British Birds, quotes a writer in Chambers’s Journal, who 
 relates that a grass-plot attached to a country house was 
 observed to be visited by a number of blackbirds, and to be 
 completely ploughed up by their beaks. The owner of the 
 property, being unwilling to shoot them, caused the plot to 
 be dug up in several places, to discover the cause of their 
 proceedings, and found it to be overrun with the larvae of 
 chafers. The birds were left in undisturbed possession, 
 and although the walls were covered with ripe fruit, they 
 left it untouched, and devoted their attention to the grubs, 
 which they entirely destroyed, and the grass-plot resumed 
 its original appearance. 
 
 The song of the song thrush and Blackbird may readily 
 be distinguished. That of the former may be said to be 
 continuous, whilst that of the latter consists of from six or 
 
THE BLACKBIRD. 
 
 39 
 
 seven to ten syllables, followed by a pause of a minute or 
 more. The song of the thrush also possesses far more 
 variety than that of the Blackbird, which seldom embraces 
 more tlian a dozen cadences ; on the other hand, it is more 
 shrill and less powerful, for the Blackbird may be heard a 
 mile off. On the whole, I must confess that the Blackbird 
 is my favourite, and has been from the days when, a happy 
 child, it was my delight to pourtray his sable form with 
 pen and ink in an incredibly short time, as mentioned else¬ 
 where. 
 
 The Blackbird’s sweetest song is often poured forth 
 during an April shower; and he has even been seen to sit 
 and sing during a thunder-storm. It must be confessed, 
 however, that there are Blackbirds and Blackbirds, the song 
 of some being very inferior to that of others. I have heard 
 a Blackbird—I presume a young one—repeat over and over 
 again the same ditty, apparently knowing no other. And I 
 have noticed in a Blackbird at Elm Park a decided progress 
 in his song, that of last year being a considerable improve¬ 
 ment upon the preceding. In England, where Blackbirds 
 and thrushes have the advantage of hearing the nightingale’s 
 song, it is believed that their own minstrelsy is refined and 
 enlarged by the addition of notes and phrases borrowed 
 from the queen of songsters; and this is not to be wondered 
 at, as all our great musicians are more or less mocking¬ 
 birds, and gifted with the imitative faculty. The Black¬ 
 bird, for instance, has been known to crow like a cock. 
 
 The song of the Blackbird in the early morning often 
 sounds somewhat harsh and unmusical. To me it seems 
 as if he were but half awake, and, disturbed rather against 
 his will, would have preferred waiting a little longer before 
 he commenced his song; but as the sun arises in the 
 
1 
 
 40 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 heavens, he soon wakes up, and greets it with his loud and 
 joyous morning hymn. The shrill alarm cry of the Black¬ 
 bird, when disturbed, is well known; his chuckle, as he 
 skims over the garden wall, is said sometimes to sound 
 like, “ Ha! ha! I shall soon be back again.” At the 
 approach of night, too, he is usually vociferous, and his 
 “ pink, pink, pink, tac, tac, tac,” may be heard for a long 
 distance, as he flies from tree to tree, or nestles in the ivy 
 before he composes himself to sleep. 
 
 Pied Blackbirds are occasionally met with; I have one 
 in my collection. And a hen Blackbird, with a grey head, 
 frequently makes her appearance at Elm Park. White 
 Blackbirds—an apparent contradiction in terms, but one 
 for which we have the authority of Archbishop Trench— 
 have been noticed on several occasions; and Mr. Morris 
 mentions one which was of a blue lavender colour, the legs 
 and feet only black. Cream-coloured varieties are very 
 rare. Mr. Johns tells us that the title to a certain estate 
 near Paris is kept up by the annual presentation of a white 
 Blackbird to the lord of the manor. 
 
 The eggs, usually five in number, are of a light blue or 
 greenish-brown colour, spotted with reddish-brown. The 
 nest—“ a bulky structure ”—is generally found in a bush, 
 or in the ivy on a low wall; but it occurs in a great 
 variety of situations. 
 
 ./J 
 
/ 
 
 RING OUSEL. 
 
 41 
 
 KING OUSEL. 
 
 Tardus torquatus ; Merle d'plastron ; Ring Drossel. 
 
 Ring Thrush; Mountain Blackbird ; Mountain Stare ; 
 
 Cowboj'; Whistler. 
 
 Bill, notched, dusky ; plumage, brownish-black; pure 
 white crescent on the breast, with horns pointing upwards. 
 Length, about eleven inches. 
 
 The Ring Ousel is the only thrush that visits our islands 
 to breed and rear its young. It arrives early in April, and 
 remains until the beginning of October. For a short time 
 after their arrival, and again before their departure, large 
 flocks of Ring Ousels may be seen ; and in autumn, when 
 they descend to the plains, they are called in some parts of 
 England “Michaelmas Blackbirds.” I have never been 
 able to find the Ring Ousel in Ireland, although I have 
 repeatedly searched for it, and on several occasions scoured 
 the Two Rock and Three Rock Mountains, guided by 
 Jemmy Byrne, a resident in those parts, who believed that 
 he W51S familiar with its haunts. I have reason, however, 
 to think that it breeds in the Dublin and Wicklow Moun¬ 
 tains ; and, if spared to next summer, I hope again to set 
 forth in quest of the blackbird “ with the white cravat.” 
 Mr. Thompson says that the Ring Ousel may be seen in 
 most of the mountainous districts of Ireland, on Slieve 
 Donard, the loftiest of the Mourne Mountains, on Carling- 
 ford Mountain, at Achill Head, on the famous hill of 
 Slieve-na-man, near Clonmel, on the Comeragh Moun¬ 
 tains, and elsewhere. 
 
 The song of the Ring Ousel is said to be the loudest 
 
42 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 and clearest of all the thrushes. In some respects it 
 resembles that of the missel thrush, and frequently after 
 singing he utters that loud, clear whistle which has given 
 him his local name of “ The Whistler ” on the Wicklow 
 Mountains. Its alarm cry resembles that of the blackbird, 
 and its loud call-note of “ tac, tac, tac,^’ also reminds us 
 of that bird. 
 
 The food of the Ring Ousel is principally insects, worms, 
 snails, berries, and the seeds of various trees. In England 
 the young are said to feed on garden fruit. In Ireland, 
 however, the bird is much more rare, and apparently much 
 more shy also, as I have never heard of any such mal¬ 
 practices here. 
 
 The breeding ground of the Ring Ousel is the moorland 
 district or the mountain side, far from the haunts of men; 
 there, flitting from boulder to boulder, with his white gorget 
 glistening in the sun, he spends his Irish summer; and 
 when his work is done, and autumn chills tell him that it 
 is time to go, he departs on his long yet pleasant journey 
 to southern shores. 
 
 The nest is like a blackbird’s, but is always on or near 
 the ground. The eggs, too, resemble those of that bird ; 
 but the red in the markings is of a more decided hue. 
 
 DIPPER. 
 
 Cinclus aquaticus; Chicle Plongeur; Wasser Amsel. 
 Water Ousel; Water Crow; Water Blackbird; Kingfisher; 
 River Pye. 
 
 Bill, bluish-black; upper plumage, dark brown; back, 
 dark grey ; chin, throat, and breast, pure white; lower 
 
DIPPER. 
 
 43 
 
 part, chestnut; tail, short, and somewhat erect. Length, 
 seven inches and a-half. 
 
 It is not easy to say whether the Dipper should be 
 classed among the thrushes or the wrens. It resembles 
 the wren in its song, its nest, and its habit of jerking its 
 tail; in other respects, however, it seems to claim affinity 
 with the thrush. The habits of the Dipper may readily 
 be studied, as the bird is plentiful in most parts of Ireland. 
 Every day in the year it may be seen along the Dodder, or 
 in the beautiful glen of the Dargle ; indeed, there are few 
 mountain streams that it does not enliven with its innocent 
 presence and amusing evolutions. It has often been said 
 that the Dipper is the only bird that can walk along the 
 bottom of a stream ; the truth of the matter seems to be 
 that it remains for a short time beneath the surface, using 
 all the while great exertions with its wings and feet, and 
 then rising to take breath. As the specific gravity of the 
 bird is much less than that of the otter or beaver, both of 
 which remain under water with difficulty, the strain upon 
 our little friend’s powers must be very great indeed. 
 
 The Dipper is our earliest songster. lie sings indeed all 
 the year round at intervals; but in January his song seems 
 most frequently heard. No matter how trying or severe the 
 weather may be, on him it seems to have no effect; he 
 has been heard singing with the thermometer at twenty- 
 six degrees, perched upon a piece of broken ice floating 
 gaily along. Whilst walking at Leixlip with my kind 
 friend the Hector (himself a Bird), some time ago, I heard 
 the song of the Dipper just at the famous Salmon Leap. 
 It mingled with the roar of the waterfall, and was audible 
 only at intervals, sounding like music far away. 
 
 The nest of the Dipper is generally found amongst the 
 
44 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 rocks, and, according to Mr. Dixon, never in a tree or 
 bush; frequently quite close to the rocks, and washed by 
 the spray of the dashing water. On one occasion it is said 
 to have built its nest in a crevice in a wall at the back of 
 a “lasher” in the lock of a canal, dashing through the 
 stream with great zest, to reach its unique home. The 
 nest is domed like a wren^s, and in it the Dipper lays her 
 pure white eggs, usually from four to six in number. 
 
 HEDGE SPAEKOW. 
 
 Accentor modularis; Accentenr Moucliet; IJeckenhran- 
 nelle ; Boeren-naciigall (J)utch.), “Farmer's Nightingale." 
 
 Hedge Accentor; Hedge Warbler; Dunnock; Cuddy; 
 Eeefogue; Black Wren; Shuffle-wing; Winter Fauvette. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; claws, black; head, nape, and sides 
 of neck, bluish-grey; back and wings, reddish-brown; 
 chin, throat, and chest, grey. Length, five inches and 
 a-half. 
 
 This is one of the best known and least appreciated of 
 our Irish Song Birds, and j’et it has many claiins to our 
 kindly notice and regard. Modest, gentle, and retiring, 
 the word “unobtrusive” seems best to describe both its 
 habits and its plumage of sober brown and bluish-grey. It 
 is common everywhere in Ireland, and indeed in all parts 
 of the United Kingdom, but is said to have been captured 
 but once in the Shetland Isles. It is plentiful around all 
 our large towns, and may be heard in full song even in the 
 squares of Dublin. Hardly, indeed, has a- day passed for 
 
HEDGE SPAEROW. 
 
 45 
 
 many years that I have not heard and seen it; for it is one 
 of our perennial songsters, and seems to be always abroad. 
 
 The Hedge Sparrow is “one of three soft-billed birds, 
 insectivorous, with the same texture of plumage as migra¬ 
 tory birds, and yet remaining with us all the year round.” 
 Were he to leave us with his more highly esteemed 
 brethren every year, he would, no doubt, rise rapidly in 
 popular esteem. 
 
 The Hedge Sparrow’s food is in summer insects, and, 
 in winter principally small seeds. It is certainly one of 
 the most harmless of birds, and it should be a welcome 
 guest in every garden. Its favourite haunt is in whitethorn 
 hedges; there it may be seen threading its way, as Mr. 
 Thompson remarks, “ evidently as happy and contented as 
 if no obstacles were opposed to its progress.” By-and-by it 
 flies to the branch of some low tree, and warbles forth its 
 artless song. The prop of a clothes-line at the back of 
 our house is a favourite perching-place, and from it a 
 Hedge Sparrow continually pours forth his simple ditty, 
 and is almost always answered by a neighbour at no great 
 distance. The call-note is like the syllable, “ee—ee—ee,” 
 sometimes pronounced loudly and sharply, and the song in 
 several respects resembles that of the wren and willow 
 warbler, but is not so shrill or powerful as the former, 
 whilst it consists of fewer syllables than the latter. The 
 curious shuffling of the wings of the Hedge Sparrow has 
 supplied it with one of its local names, and this habit is 
 more marked as the breeding season approaches. 
 
 Mr. Poole, as quoted by Mr. Thompson, remarks 
 “ March 3rd. At this season the Dunnock displays some 
 curious evolutions, probably by way of exhibiting its 
 gallantry; suddenly raising the wings from the body, and 
 
4G 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 holding them for a moment at right angles with it, and 
 then repeatedly flapping them with an attractive and 
 languishing air. It also floats in the air in a manner quite 
 foreign to its usual habit. One whose nest I ivas examin¬ 
 ing, when frightened off, evinced great distress, and even 
 simulated being wounded, as is the custom of many, indeed 
 of most species of birds with which I am acquainted.^’ 
 
 It is remarkable that although this bird is apparently so 
 tame and familiar, it will hardly ever, under any circum¬ 
 stances, enter houses. Mr. Morris, however, tells us that 
 on one occasion, after a very heav}^ fall of snow, a Hedge 
 Sparrow entered his kitchen at Nunburnholme Kectory. 
 About Christmas these birds may be seen in parties of five 
 or six; shortly afterwards they separate, and are not observed 
 together again until the termination of the breeding season. 
 
 The name “Hedge Sparrow” has been frequently 
 objected to, on the ground that the bird is not a sparrow 
 at all; but popular as this epithet has been since Shake¬ 
 speare’s time, it is not likely that it will be ever dropped 
 for the more pretentious title “Accentor.” 
 
 “ The Hedge Sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, 
 
 That it had its head bit off by its young. ” 
 
 King Lear, Act I., Scene 1. 
 
 The nest is one of the earliest of the year, “ and this 
 being placed in an almost leafless hedge, with little art 
 displayed in its concealment, generally becomes the booty 
 of every prying boy ; and the blue eggs of the Hedge 
 Warbler are always found in such numbers on his string, 
 that it is surprising how' any of the race are remaining.” 
 
 The eggs, four or five in number, are of a spotless blue. 
 
ROBIN. 
 
 47 
 
 ROBIxV. 
 
 Erythacus liuhecula; Rouge-gorge ; Rothkelchen. 
 
 Redbreast; Ruddock. 
 
 Bill, black; legs and claws, brown ; head, neck, back, 
 and tail, olive-brown ; chin, throat, and breast, orange- 
 red, encircled by a band of bluish-grey ; lower part of the 
 breast and abdomen, white; colours of the female duller. 
 Length, five inches and three-quarters. 
 
 No bird is better known than the Robin, and none more 
 appreciated than he. A favourite with young and old, he 
 meets with more kindly consideration than any other of 
 our feathered friends. The time-worn ballads of “ The 
 Babes in the Wood,’^ and “ The Death and Burial of 
 Cock Robin,have doubtless had much to say to the 
 great popularity of our little friend; and his bold and con¬ 
 fiding manners, and his sweet song, heard at all seasons, 
 and in all weathers, have deepened, as we grew up, the 
 favourable impression \xe entertained of this pretty songster 
 from our earliest childhood. 
 
 As a song bird, I am, for my ow-n part, disposed to give 
 the Robin a very high place. No bird has so plaintive or 
 so varied a song ; it is, indeed, impossible to say that any 
 two cadences are exactly alike. “It consists,” as has been 
 well observed, “ of simple trills, in a soft tone and minor 
 key, interspersed with pauses more solemn than sound. 
 There are also occasional faintly whispered notes, especially 
 a plaintive, prolonged final note, peculiarly touching; yet, 
 as if by some power of chastened fortitude, the bird sus¬ 
 tains his cheerfulness withal.” 
 
48 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG RIRDS. 
 
 The “ shilling note ” of the Robin is well-known. It 
 can be readily imitated by tapping two shillings briskly 
 together—a performance that is said sometimes to bring a 
 neighbouring Robin quickly to the spot. There is also a 
 deep-drawn note, something like a sigh, which we frequently 
 hear before we are aware that poor Robin is so near us. 
 
 The Robin sings all the year round, except for about six 
 weeks in summer, from the last week in June until the 
 second week in August. From the middle of December to 
 the middle of January, he can be heard in the morning 
 only; but further on towards spring, his voice takes up 
 its evening hymn as well. Frost does not much affect his 
 song, for we hear him in the severest weather, when no 
 other songs, save the wren’s, are ever heard. 
 
 There is reason to believe that about October the 
 resident Robins are reinforced by the arrival of birds from 
 more northern regions, and that in this way we may 
 account for the great number of Robins we hear singing in 
 all parts of the country. At times a flood of gentle melody 
 pours on our ears from every side as we walk abroad. 
 
 Another curious fact mentioned by Professor Newton, is 
 that the old birds retire during the moulting season to 
 distant and secluded spots, and that during their absence 
 the young ones take possession .of the old haunts. When 
 the old birds return in the autumn, severe conflicts ensue ; 
 every lawn becomes a battle-field, in which the young birds 
 are worsted, and forced to retire to other camping-grounds. 
 
 The Robin, although a familiar, is yet a shy bird, nor 
 does he display that valour in defence of his eggs or young 
 ones which is so conspicuous in other birds. It is also 
 very doubtful whether his character will bear very strict 
 investigation as to amiability, for he seems to be essentially 
 
ROBIN. 
 
 49 
 
 of a jealous nature, and unwilling to brook any rival, or, 
 indeed, near neighbour, in the domains he considers his 
 own. It is said that one killed twenty of his own species, 
 merely because they intruded upon a greenhouse to which 
 he believed that he had a prescriptive and exclusive right. 
 
 Mr. Thompson mentions some amusing instances of the 
 pugnacity of Robins. Two Robins were so absorbed in 
 combat, that they fought from the air downwards to the 
 earth, until they disappeared in a man^s hat that happened 
 to be lying on the ground, and in which they both were 
 captured. In another case, “two Robins, having fought 
 most wickedly in the air, alighted to take breath; and 
 having recovered a little, they were about to recommence 
 the charge, w'hen a duck, that had witnessed the combat, 
 quickly waddled up, and in the most gentle and pacific 
 manner shoved, with his bill, the one to the right, and the 
 other to the left, thus evidently separating them to prevent 
 a renewal of the conflict.^^ 
 
 I have never witnessed a Robin as fearless as one I saw 
 some years ago at Fir House, near Tallaght, Co. Dublin. 
 As we stood in a group around the owner, Mr. Handcock, 
 ■whilst he held some crumbs in his hand, a Robin would 
 fly over our shoulders, snatch a crumb, and quickly depart, 
 as quickly to return, quite unabashed by the strangers in 
 conversation with his old friend. 
 
 The nest of the Robin is usually placed upon the ground, 
 or very near it, seldom, if ever, in a tree, but frequently 
 under a bush or upon some hedge-bank. The eggs, five or 
 six in number, are white, a reddish-white, with darker red 
 spots at the larger end. The Robin’s nest has been found 
 in some very extraordinary situations. Bishop Stanley 
 says : “A pair of Robins took up their abode in the Parish 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 OUE lEISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Church of Hampton, in Warwickshire, and affixed their 
 nest to the Church Bible, as it lay on the reading-desk. 
 The vicar would not allow the birds to be disturbed, and 
 therefore supplied himself with another Bible, from which 
 he read the lessons of the day. A similar instance occurred 
 at Collingbourne, Kingston Church. The clerk, on looking 
 out the lessons for the day, perceived something under the 
 Bible in the reading-desk, and in a hollow place, occasioned 
 by the Bible’s resting on a raised ledge, found a Robin’s 
 nest, containing two eggs. The bird, not having been dis¬ 
 turbed, laid four more, which were hatched on the 4th of 
 May. The still more extraordinary part of the story is, 
 that the cock bird actually brought food in its bill during 
 Divine Service, which is performed twice every Sunday; 
 and it is further highly creditable to the parishioners, 
 particularly the junior portion of them, that the birds were 
 never molested, and not an attempt even suspected to be 
 made on the nest and eggs deposited in so hallowed a spot.” 
 The Bishop adds: “We can remember, indeed, a Robin 
 hopping more than once familiarly, as if aware how safe 
 from peril it was at such a moment, upon our own Bible, 
 as it lay open before us, reading the lessons on Christmas 
 Day.” 
 
 One more anecdote seems not out of place here. The 
 mizzen-mast of the Victory, beside which Lord Nelson 
 was standing when he received his death-wound, was 
 placed by William IV. in a building in the grounds of 
 Bushy Park. In the hole left by a cannon shot in the 
 mast, a pair of Robins built their nest, and reared their 
 young. Mr. Morris tells us that this interesting relic is 
 now in the armoury of Windsor Castle. 
 
 The Robin feeds principally upon insects, earwigs, and 
 
ROBIN. 
 
 51 
 
 worms, and also upon different kinds of berries. He may 
 occasionally annex a few currants ; but he is, on the whole, 
 a real benefactor to the gardener and agriculturist, on whose 
 footsteps he may be seen constantly to attend, waiting with 
 anxious expectation, like Mr. Micawber, for something “to 
 turn up.” 
 
 I may be permitted to conclude this notice with two 
 Robin poems, which often occur to my own mind. One 
 accounts for the red upon his breast in this fashion :— 
 
 “ Bearing His cross, while Christ passed forth forlorn, 
 
 His Godlike forehead by the mock crown torn, 
 
 A little bird took from that crown one thorn. 
 
 To soothe the dear Redeemer’s throbbing head. 
 
 That bird did what she could—His blood, ’tis said, 
 
 Down dropping, dyed her tender bosom red. 
 
 Since then no wanton boy disturbs her nest, 
 
 Weasel nor wild cat will her young molest; 
 
 All sacred deem the bird of ruddy breast.” 
 
 J. H. Abrahall. 
 
 The other is the Redbreast’s Epitaph :— 
 
 ‘ ‘ 1’read lightly here, for here, ’tis said. 
 
 When piping winds are hush’d around, 
 
 A small note wakes from underground, 
 
 Where now his tiny bones are laid. 
 
 No more in lone and leafless groves. 
 
 With ruffled wings and faded breast. 
 
 His friendless, homeless spirit roves. 
 
 Gone to the world where birds are blest, 
 
 Where never cat glides o’er the green, 
 
 Or schoolboy’s giant form is seen. 
 
 But love, and gay and smiling spring. 
 
 Inspire their little souls to sing. ” 
 
 Rogers. 
 
52 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 EEDSTART. 
 
 Ruticilla Phoenicurus; Becfin cles murailles; Garten 
 rothling ; Roodstaartje (Dutch). 
 
 Kedtail; Firetail; Quickstart. 
 
 Bill, black; legs and claws, brown ; head, back, and 
 wing coverts, grey; forehead, white; breast, tail coverts, 
 and tail, bright rust-red; two middle tail feathers, brown. 
 The female has not the white and black on the head. 
 Length, five inches and a-quarter. 
 
 I hardly thought that I should have been able to have 
 included this beautiful bird in the list of Irish Song Birds, 
 as one which observers were at all likely to see and hear 
 for themselves. Mr. Thompson writes of it as “ a very 
 rare visitant to Ireland.” He says that this is singular, 
 as it is a regular vernal migrant, not only to England, 
 but to Scotland, and is met with from the borders to the 
 extreme north of the latter country. Nowhere are there 
 districts apparently better suited to this very handsome 
 and interesting bird than in Ireland. I have always re¬ 
 gretted its absence as a summer visitor, w^hen meeting with 
 it in localities of various character in England.” Mr. 
 Watters says: “ This elegantly formed species is one of 
 extreme rarity in its occurrence, and has only been obtained 
 in three or four instances in difierent localities on the 
 island. Interesting in habits, and beautiful in plumage, 
 it is a matter of regret that it is not a companion with the 
 many other summer visitants to our shores.” Mr. Seebohm 
 remarks that “it is virtually absent in Ireland; ” and Mr. 
 A. G. More speaks of it as “a very rare visitor, occurring in 
 two or three instances in summer or autumn.^^ 
 

^ , 01 a mm Rmwsi. 
 
 uy/ if u:t>htaet, 
 
 : (isefin d^a mmuiUft} 
 if \^Y -J r>Aklin^ , , /?•■• mtaartje (Dutch), 
 
 Redtail ; Dirc-tail; Quickstart. 
 
 HriJ, hlaok; md. claws, brown ; head, 
 wing coVetfcP.-:?rov; forehead, w'bite ; breast, 
 and tail, ru^t-red; two middle tail feather^, 
 
 The fem;de/oaFS not the w'hite and black on th- jdwM 
 Ijcnglii, i re inches and a-quartor, 
 
 ■* J hardl} thought that I should have been., able 
 itidi’aded tide beautiful bird in the lisi? of Irish 
 one whi’h observers were at all likely to see 
 for therjtsel *631. Mr, Thompson writes of it as “v 
 rare vi^tUir. Tis la ^ Ho says that this is 
 as it is a i i > ;'aj( nugmut, not only to 
 
 but to Scotia \d, aud is mot with from the bordorf"^ 
 extreme norti of the latter country.' Nowheir 
 districts apparently better suited to this very 
 and interestin,' bird than m Ireland. I haVe 
 gratted its aWs( n<’e ay u smnmer victor, when 
 it in' vof TTj'hSf^s vb«ti-. 4 cter in 'England;" :ji 
 
 t 11s o* ‘degaiiUy formed species is 
 exire^&e ntrily i jIb (fecurrence,. and has only been 
 in or foa iTuitanoes in different local 
 
 island. Tii’vouil ?«5r in habits, and beautiful in 
 it is h iv-u-b. t '.>1 tlt'it it is not a companitm 
 
 many oth, r w vt^ttote to our shores.” Mr. 
 remains triM “ it % virtuaHf absent in Ireland ; ^ 
 
 A. O. More $< *i: M ” a ^ cry rare visitor, 
 
 two or three in^Wt ^rg itj or aalamn,*^ ^ 
 
R E D S T A R T. 
 
I 
 
REDSTART. 
 
 53 
 
 It was, therefore, with much pleasurable excitement 
 that, in company with my friend, Mr. Charles Pownall, I 
 accepted an invitation from Miss Massy, of Coolakeigh, 
 Enniskerry, to visit the Deer Park, Powerscourt, and see 
 the Kedstarts, male, female, young ones, nest, and all. 
 Were it not that I had known Miss Massy for several years 
 as an indefatigable and really skilful observer, I should 
 have feared that some mistake had been made, as the 
 news seemed almost too good to be true ; but with her 
 diagnosis we felt that all must be right. We w'ent, we 
 saw, and were delighted; and I hurried to communi¬ 
 cate the pleasant tidings to my kind friend, Mr. A. G. 
 More. 
 
 All this occurred on June 18, 1885, and on June 27, 
 Mr. More accompanied my wife and myself to the historic 
 spot, to see, and hear, and judge for himself. There we 
 found Miss Massy awaiting us ; the old birds w^ere in 
 the trees, the young birds were with them, save one 
 which Miss Massy had taken in the hope of rearing it 
 by hand, and we had excellent opportunities of seeing 
 both cock and hen, and of being witnesses to the first 
 instance on record of the Redstart’s breeding in Ireland. 
 
 The credit of the discovery should, I think, be shared 
 by Mr. Anton, the head keeper at the Deer Park, who 
 first saw the bird, ‘Svith a tail like tire,” as it fluttered 
 around the cage of a siskin, which he placed on the wall 
 near his house, and by my kind friend Miss Massy, 
 whose knowledge enabled him to identify it as the Red¬ 
 start, a bird previously unknown in the district. 
 
 The Redstart is a migratory bird, arriving usually early 
 in April, and departing late in September. Like other mi¬ 
 gratory birds, it returns year after year to the same locali- 
 
54 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 ties, to build its nest and rear its young. Its habits in 
 many respects resemble those of the robin, and its call- 
 note, which has been written down as wee-tit-tit,or 
 “ oi-chit,” reminds one of the shilling note of that bird, and 
 also of the “ pse-chip-chip ’’ of the spotted fly-catcher. I 
 have myself heard the bird sing but once, and that in 
 Gunton Park, Norfolk. To me its song, though short, 
 seemed very pleasing and melodious; it may be heard 
 sometimes at night, and also whilst the bird is on the 
 wing. 
 
 The Redstart is an insectivorous bird, and feeds on flies, 
 gnats, larvjB, and small butterflies; fruit and berries are 
 also sometimes eaten. It has often been said that the 
 frequent movements of the tail made by this bird were in 
 a lateral, and not a vertical direction ; this, however, seems 
 to be a mistake. Mr. Seebohm says that “ the tail is 
 waved like a fan, and always vertically; ” and this I believe 
 to be the case. 
 
 The Redstart is sometimes, when a cage-bird on the 
 Continent, let loose to catch flies; and there is a story that 
 one caught 600 in one hour, or about ten per minute. 
 Services of this kind would be at times much prized in our 
 own country. 
 
 As the Redstart is “ a bird of ruins and rocks,” as well 
 as of orchards and gardens, its nest is frequently found in 
 holes in old walls, as at Powerscourt, as well as in 
 hollow trees; and there the eggs of a lightish greenish-blue 
 colour, unspotted, and varying very much in number, are 
 deposited. Mr. Dixon has taken as many as twelve from 
 one nest, the bird continuing to lay as egg after egg dis¬ 
 appeared. 
 
STONECHAT. 
 
 55 
 
 The Black Kedstart [Riiticilla tithys) is, according to Mr. 
 More, “ a rare winter visitor, occurring chieflj on the east 
 and south coasts,’^ and, of course, never breeding in this 
 country. Mr. Allan Ellison has kindly forwarded to me a 
 fine specimen of a male which he shot at Shillelagh, County 
 Wicklow, in December, 1885. 
 
 This bird is remarkably plentiful on the banks of the 
 Ehine, and especially between Koln and Mainz. Its 
 plumage is of a bluish-grey, the bill, cheeks, throat, and 
 breast, black ; tail, light chestnut-red ; white patch on the 
 wings. It is sometimes called the Tithys Redstart, most 
 probably from a Greek word for a small bird of that 
 description. 
 
 STONECHAT. 
 
 Saxicola rubicola; Tarier rahecole ; Schwarzkehliger. 
 
 Stonechatter; Blackcap. 
 
 Beak, legs, and claws, black ; head, neck, and back, 
 also black ; sides of the neck, white like a collar; breast, 
 beneath, bright reddish chestnut; tail, almost black. The 
 female has the upper parts brown instead of black, the 
 collar less distinct, and the red on the breast fainter. 
 Length, five inches and a-quarter. 
 
 This ver}’- attractive little bird enlivens with its presence 
 nearly all the wastes and commons of our country. Like 
 the whinchat, the gorse, or furze, as we call it in Ireland, 
 is its favourite resting-place, and “the topmost twig” is 
 frequently adorned by our little friend with his black head, 
 
56 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 white collar, and ruddy breast; whilst his well-known 
 voice, like the clicking of two stones together, is repeatedly 
 heard as he flits on before us from one “ coign of vantage^^ 
 to another. I have hut very rarely heard the song of the 
 Stonechat. It is uttered in a very weak, low voice, and 
 generally whilst the bird is on the wing ; but of the “ click, 
 click,"” or “ twit-click-click,” he is by no means chary. 
 
 It has been remarked that Stonechats always perch on 
 the top of the bushes, and also on the tops of the dock- 
 weeds, when they alight; and we may notice cock and 
 hen a few feet apart in this conspicuous position, each 
 jerking its tail, and clicking responsively—the male bird, 
 of course, in a louder tone—the first “ music of the wastes, 
 except perhaps the skylark’s song. It has been said that, 
 strictly speaking, the term “ Stonechat” should have been 
 given to the wheatear—a bird which never perches on trees 
 or bushes, but always upon stones, or on the ground. It 
 is probable, however, that the clicking notes of the Stone¬ 
 chat led to this appellation being conferred upon it, instead 
 of that of the hushchat,” which has been proposed by 
 some ornithologists. 
 
 The food of the Stonechat consists in summer of grubs 
 and insects of various kinds; in winter it may partake of 
 a few seeds. It is, however, a most inoffensive, as well as 
 a really beautiful little bird, and one which greatly enlivens 
 the solitude of our commons and mountain sides. 
 
 The nest is often made upon the ground, always near it, 
 and is very carefully concealed, especially when placed, as 
 it sometimes is, in a furze bush; there the eggs, five in 
 number, are laid, usually towards the close of April. They 
 are of a greenish-blue colour, with spots upon the larger 
 end of reddish-brown. 
 
WHINCHAT. 
 
 57 
 
 In most parts of Europe, the Stonechat, like the whin- 
 chat and wheatear, is a bird of passage ; but owing to our 
 comparatively mild winters, it remains all the year round 
 in Ireland, and is, I think, equally plentiful at all 
 seasons. 
 
 WHINCHAT. 
 
 Saxicola rubetra : Tarier ordinaire ; Wiesenschmdtzer. 
 
 F urzechatter. 
 
 Heak, legs, and claws, black; upper plumage, dark 
 brown; broad white streak over the eye ; throat and breast, 
 fawn colour; patch under the eye of dark brown ; chin, 
 white, with streak extending beneath the dark patch ; tail 
 feathers, white at the base, but brown at the extremity; 
 white spot on wings. Length, five inches. 
 
 The Whinchat is a much less common bird in Ireland 
 than either the stonechat or wheatear. It resembles the 
 former of these birds; the colouring in the male, however, 
 is not so striking, and the white stripe over the eye makes 
 it readily distinguishable. I am not quite sure that I have 
 ever observed the Whinchat, although for some years I 
 have been on the look-out for it. In the neighbourhood of 
 Dublin it is quite a rare bird, but has been noticed by 
 my friend. Captain Cary, at the Green Hills, not far from 
 Tallaght, where I hope to look again for it this year. 
 
 Mr. Thompson says that the Whinchat is common in 
 Donegal, Kerry, and other Irish counties ; but I have never 
 noticed it in the counties of Waterford, Wicklow, Kildare, 
 &c., with which I am myself familiar. The fault may 
 
58 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 probably be my own, as until lately I have not been on the 
 look-out for it, believing that it seldom, if ever, occurred in 
 Ireland. 
 
 The Whinchat, unlike the stonechat, is a migratory bird. 
 It usually arrives early in April, and departs before the end 
 of September, and, whilst it remains with us, frequents the 
 wild common, where it particularly affects the dock-leaves, 
 which seem to divide its allegiance with the whin or furze 
 bushes, from which it derives its name. 
 
 The call-note of this bird much resembles the words, 
 “ a-teck, a-teck.” It has, however, besides a brief and 
 hurried song, often uttered whilst the bird is in the air; 
 the motions of the tail and wings whilst perching resemble 
 those of the stonechat. Its food consists of insects of 
 various kinds, seized usually whilst on the wing. It builds 
 its nest either very low down in some bush, or on the 
 ground ; it is difficult of discovery, and the bird is said 
 to approach it by a labyrinthine track. The eggs, five or 
 six in number, are of a blue or bluish-green colour, spotted 
 or speckled at the larger end. 
 
 WHEATEAR. 
 
 Saxicola cenanthe; Motteux cul hlanc; Der Stein- 
 schmdtzer. 
 
 Fallowchat; Stonechat; Stonechecker; Whitetail. 
 
 Bill, hlack; legs and claws, brownish-black; head, 
 crown, neck, on the back, and nape, bluish-grey; black 
 
WHEATEAR. 
 
 59 
 
 patch encircling the eye ; chin, throat, and stripe over the 
 breast, cream colour; breast, pale brown; upper tail 
 coverts, white, and very conspicuous when the bird is on 
 the wing; tail, black. The female has a brown, instead 
 of a black, mark around the eye, and her colours are 
 generally fainter than those of the male. Length, six and 
 a-half inches. 
 
 This pretty bird is usually the first of the summer 
 migrants in the early spring; it generally precedes the 
 chiff-chaff by a few days, and makes its appearance in the 
 vicinity of Dublin about the third or fourth week in March. 
 It has been supposed that a few Whcatears, as well as a few 
 chiffchaffs, remain all the year round in sheltered parts of 
 the country ; if true, this would account for their occasional 
 appearance long before the time of the spring migration 
 has arrived. 
 
 Some have thought that the name “ Wheatear ” is only 
 a corruption of 7i-/iiie ear, given to it from its spring 
 plumage. The white on the upper tail coverts, however, 
 is very conspicuous as the bird is on the wing, and would 
 suggest rather the term “white tail,^’ by which the bird is 
 known in some parts of England. 
 
 Mr. Thompson tells us that in the north of Ireland this 
 bird is called the “ stonechecker,” from its note “ check, 
 check,” and also from its generally perching on stones. 
 In Kerry it is called “ custeen-fayclough,” meaning “ the 
 cunning little old man under the stone,” and elsewhere 
 “ casur cloch,” or stone-hammer. 
 
 I have never heard the Wheatear sing; but its song is 
 said to be “ wild and varied.” The note, like the knocking 
 of two stones together, is, however, constantly heard, the 
 
60 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 bird jerkiug its tail and depressing its wings at every 
 utterance. 
 
 Mr. Booth says that in Scotland there are two kinds of 
 Wheatear, identical in plumage, but differing in size; that 
 the larger variety arrives later on in the year in the High¬ 
 lands, on its way farther north, and perches on the tops of 
 trees, where the smaller bird is never seen. This view, 
 however, has not, as far as I am aware, been corroborated 
 by any other writer. In some parts of Scotland this bird 
 is called “ the shepherd,” in others, ‘‘the clacheran,’^ and 
 on the mountain tops, when the thick Scotch mist is fall¬ 
 ing, as you approach the pile of stones on the summit, you 
 hear the “ clacheranbefore you can see the cairn; it 
 pilots the travellers to the cairn, and seems “as if it were 
 breaking the stones that are soon to cover you.” 
 
 The rabbit burrows, sand hills, mountain sides, and turf 
 bogs are usually tenanted by the Wheatear; and I have 
 seldom walked along the strand at Malahide in the spring 
 or summer, that my little friend has not flitted before me, 
 full of life and animation, and of curiosity, too, as to my 
 intentions respecting himself and his belongings. 
 
 The Wheatear w'as formerly in great request for the table 
 in England; and it is said that even lately 1,840 dozen 
 have been taken in traps for this purpose at Eastbourne. 
 A leading firm in Brighton had, some years ago, no fewer 
 than 60 dozen brought in in a single day. As a “ tit-bit ” 
 it formerly rivalled, in the estimation of gourmands, the 
 famous ortolan or green bunting. 
 
 The Wheatear is the strongest-winged bird of all the 
 chats, and may be found as far north as Greenland and 
 south as the Mediterranean; it is said also to be common 
 in Egypt and the East generally. Insects are its staple 
 
ICTERINE WARBLER. 
 
 61 
 
 food, and these it often captures on the wing. The nest 
 is usually found in some deserted rabbit burrow or under 
 some large clod or stone. The eggs, five or six in number, 
 are of a delicate pale blue colour. 
 
 ICTERINE WARBLER. 
 
 Ilypolais Ictei'ina ; Becfin d poitrine jaune ; Garten 
 Lauhvogel. 
 
 Bill, legs, and toes, yellowish-brown ; head, neck, and 
 back, greenish; throat and breast, pale yellow ; tail, brown. 
 Length, five inches and a-quarter. 
 
 The Icterine Warbler is said to derive its name from the 
 Greek word ikteros, meaning bile or jaundice,* because 
 it charms away that unpleasant disorder, or more pro¬ 
 bably from the yellow colour alluded to in its French 
 name. It has occurred but once in Ireland, having been 
 shot at Lunsinea by Mr. J. G. Rathborne, June 8, 1856. 
 Mr. Rathborne was attracted by the splendid song of the 
 bird, which was quite new to him, and was enabled to 
 secure the only specimen ever obtained on Irish soil. 
 Every now and then, as he watched it, it rose up from the 
 willow trees, after the manner of the flycatchers, to secure 
 its prey, and then returned singing to the branch again. 
 In England the first specimen of the Icterine Warbler was 
 obtained at Eythorne, near Dover, in 1848; and, after a 
 long lapse of years, I understand that the bird w^as observed 
 several times in 1884. 
 
 * “ A yellow bird which, if one sees, being sick of the yellow 
 jaundice, the person recovers, and the bird dieth.” 
 
62 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Mr. Gould, writing before the occurrence of this bird in 
 England, says: “It is somewhat singular that this species, 
 so familiar to every naturalist on . the Continent, and which 
 inhabits the gardens and hedgerows of those portions of 
 the coasts of France and Holland which are immediately 
 opposite to our own, should not, like the rest of its immediate 
 congeners, more diminutive in size, and consequently less 
 capable of performing extensive flights, have occasionally 
 strayed across the Channel, and enlivened our glens and 
 groves with its rich and charming song, which is far 
 superior to that of either of the three other species of the 
 group.” 
 
 On 26th July, 1882, I had the pleasure of hearing the 
 remarkable song of the Icterine Warbler, when on a short 
 Continental tour with my boy. Strolling into the Bosch, 
 as the public park at the Hague is named, and on the 
 look-out for birds, we heard a bird begin to sing high up 
 in one of the tall trees near a little brook or pond. The 
 song was new to us both, and we listened attentively; at 
 first it sounded to me somewhat like that of the thrush, and 
 I thought that perhaps it might be the song of the red¬ 
 wing; but after a few preliminary phrases, and two or 
 three somewhat harsh notes, it burst into the most delight¬ 
 ful bird song I have ever heard. This latter had the true 
 nightingale ring, and yet the bird seemed to possess even 
 greater powers of execution than his famed English rival. 
 With extraordinary brilliancy and rapidity he ran up and 
 down the scales, and concluded all too soon for his delighted 
 auditory. As he ceased, we heard another fine song, though 
 much inferior to that to which we had been listening, and 
 which proceeded, as we believed, from a great reed warbler 
 on the banks of the stream close by. Our knowledge of 
 
ICTERINE WARBLER. 
 
 63 
 
 Dutch being of a very linaited nature, we were unable to 
 ascertain the name of this great artist at the time, called, 
 
 I believe, by the Hollanders, “ geelborstjenor did I 
 identify it until I read Dresser’s description of the song of 
 the Icterine Warbler. He quotes Mr. Collett, who, writing 
 of its occurrence in Norway, says : “ It is the very best of 
 our songsters; its song not a little resembles that of the 
 nightingale; but one finds in it again the ditty of the 
 thrush.” This description seems to me to be true to the 
 life. The cry of the bird when its nest is approached is 
 said to resemble the syllables ‘‘pi-ti-u-y”— a very signifi¬ 
 cant cry indeed. 
 
 I was glad that we had an opportunity of hearing this 
 bird, so familiar to me as having occurred in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of Dublin ; and I cannot but regret its very rare 
 occurrence in Great Britain, for to my mind, although its 
 song wanted the liquidness of the nightingale, and was, 
 perhaps, marred by a few discords in the shape of some 
 harsh, strident notes, in general effect, although heard 
 in the broad daylight, it seemed to be superior to that of 
 Philomela herself. 
 
 In appearance the Icterine Warbler differs but little * 
 from the willow warbler and chiff-chaff. It is, however, 
 a larger bird than either, and its bill is stouter, as in 
 all aquatic warblers — a distinction to which my attention 
 was lately drawn by my kind friend, Mr. A. G. More. 
 
 Should this bird again occur in Ireland, its wonderful 
 song should at once reveal its presence; and let us hope 
 that “ the sweet singer ” may be heard and appreciated 
 by many admirers. 
 
64 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 SEDGE WARBLER. 
 
 Acrocephalus Schoenohcenus; Becjin Phragmite ; Schilf 
 Rohrsanger. 
 
 Irish Nightingale. 
 
 Bill and claws, brown ; head, dark brown ; back, brown, 
 tinged with grey ; throat, whitish; breast, darker; broad 
 yellowish-white stripe over the eyes; tail, brown, slightly 
 rounded. Length, about four and a-half inches. 
 
 The Sedge Warbler may be said to be the only “ Irish 
 member ” of the aquatic warblers, for the reed warbler, so 
 well known in England, has been only once obtained in 
 this country. The Sedge Warbler, on the contrary, is 
 plentiful enough, and may be heard, if not seen, in the 
 neighbourhood of nearly all our countiy ponds and streams, 
 provided only that they afford sufficient shelter in the 
 shape of reeds, sedges, and other aquatic plants. The 
 term “ Riverain Warblers,” as distinguished from the 
 sjdvan, has been applied by Temminck to the Sedge 
 Warbler and to other kindred birds, whose absence from 
 our shores we can only lament, but not account for. 
 
 The Sedge Warbler usually arrives before the end of 
 April, and leaves us again early in September; its song 
 may be heard shortly after its arrival, and the bird con¬ 
 tinues to sing up to the end of July, if not longer. 
 Different estimates have been formed of the Sedge Warbler 
 as a songster. Gilbert White calls it ‘^a delicate polyglot,” 
 and says that “ it sings incessantly day and night during 
 the breeding-time, imitating the note of a sparrow, a 
 swallow, a skylark,and that it “ has a strange hurrying 
 
SEDGE WARBLER. 
 
 65 
 
 manner in its song.” He also says: “The sedge bird sings 
 most part of the night, and when it happens to be silent, a 
 stone or clod thrown into the bushes where it sits will 
 immediately set it a singing, or, in other words, though it 
 slumbers sometimes, yet as soon as it is awakened it 
 reassumes its song.’^ The strict truth of these remarks 
 anyone can investigate for himself. I have often put them 
 to the proof. The bird is indeed very bold, and when dis¬ 
 turbed, instead of hiding in silence, or hurrying to escape, 
 as other birds do, seems to turn round and soundly rate 
 the invader. 
 
 The term “Irish nightingale” is frequently given to 
 the Sedge Warbler ; save, however, that it sings in the 
 night, its notes bear no resemblance to those of the Philo¬ 
 mel ; at the same time, they are often pleasing, although 
 they always seem to me to have a reedy flavour. Mr. Sweet 
 gives the song proper as “ chit, chit, chiddy, chiddy, chit, 
 chit, chitit is, however, often interspersed with some 
 melodious notes borrowed from the songs of other birds, 
 the performer recurring every moment to his own, which 
 is, no doubt, much superior in his estimation. 
 
 I was told some time ago that the nightingale had been 
 heard singing not far from the Mageough Home, Palmerston 
 Koad, Eathmines, and that it could usually be heard at 
 about 11 p.ra. With two young friends I accordingly 
 hastened to the trysting-place on the very next night, and 
 there waited in anxious silence for the expected song. It 
 came at last, the well-known reedy eflfusion of the “ Irish 
 nightingale,” the indefatigable and ever wakeful Sedge 
 Warbler, 
 
 If, however, the bird is unduly exalted by this high- 
 sounding title, he is, on the other hand, as I have pointed 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 out elsewhere, often robbed of the credit really his due by 
 the reed bunting, whose more conspicuous form enables 
 him to appropriate the song of the Sedge Warbler, hidden 
 in the heart of the bush, whilst he poses elegantly on the 
 topmost spray. As a songster I should be inclined to 
 place the Sedge Warbler after the willow warbler, and 
 before the whitethroat; and, like the latter of these birds 
 especially, it may often be heard to sing upon the wing, 
 whilst in pursuit of those insects which form its staple 
 food. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Atkinson calls the Sedge Warbler “ this ever¬ 
 lasting little songster.” The “Irish nightingale” is, how¬ 
 ever, the title by which he is best known at this side of the 
 Channel; and certainly, if unwearied persistency and 
 marvellous mimicry are to be highly esteemed, he does his 
 best to console us for the absence of “ the noblest Koman 
 of them all.” The nest is usually in bushes, close, to 
 the ground, and near the w'ater. The eggs, five or six in 
 number, are whitish, with spots of dull brown. 
 
 GRASSHOPPEE WARBLER. 
 
 Acrocephalus ncevius; Becfiri locustelle; Busch-Rohrsdnger. 
 
 Cricket Bird; Brakehopper. 
 
 Bill and feet, brown; upper plumage, brown, with 
 centres of feather darkest, so as to give the bird a spotted 
 appearance; chin, throat, and breast, whitish ; tail, long 
 and cuneiform, and of a brown colour. Length, five and a- 
 half inches. 
 
GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 
 
 67 
 
 The Grasshopper Warbler is a very rare bird in Ireland. 
 Mr. Watters says of it: “It has never passed under my own 
 observation, or that of Mr. Richard Glennon, who has had 
 some forty j^ears’ experience of the distribution of our 
 native and migratory species.’^ Mr. Thompson, however, 
 examined two specimens, one shot near Belfast, the other 
 near Wexford by Mr. Poole, who remarked that it frequented 
 the thorn bushes on a fence, and would sing while he was 
 close to it, adding that “its peculiar rotatory song bears no 
 greater resemblance to anything than to the running out 
 of a slick wheel.” The late Dr. Ball, father of our 
 Astronomer Royal, often heard its curious voice in the 
 neighbourhood of Youghal. It is a regular summer visitor 
 to the County of Waterford. 
 
 For my own part, I have never seen the bird, and I 
 believe that I heard it only on one occasion, in a field not 
 very far from the Railway Terminus, Tramore, Co. Water¬ 
 ford. My friend. Miss Massy, however, is of opinion that 
 it visits the neighbourhood of Bray Head for a short time 
 every year. The fact that the bird is so seldom seen, and 
 that when heard its note is ascribed to the common grass¬ 
 hopper, will probably account for its existence as an Irish 
 Song Bird being usually unsuspected. Mr. Thompson 
 quotes McSkimmins’ History of Carrickfergus, in which 
 it is remarked that this warbler “ inhabits thickets and 
 close hedges, and makes a noise in the summer evenings 
 resembling the winding up of a clock, or the call of the 
 common grasshopper.” To my ears, on the solitary occasion 
 referred to, it seemed to savour somewhat of the “ churr ” 
 of the nightjar, but fainter, and in a higher key. 
 
 The Grasshopper Warbler often sings at night, and 
 occasionally on the wing. “ Nothing,” says Gilbert White, 
 
68 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 “can be more amusing than the whisper of this little bird, 
 which seems to be close bj, though at a hundred yards’ 
 distance, and when close to your ear, is scarce any louder 
 than when a great way off. The country people, when 
 you tell them that it is a bird, will hardly give you 
 credence.” 
 
 The late Eev. C. A. Johns, in his British Birds in their 
 Haunts, gives a most interesting description of an interview 
 with the Grasshopper Warbler, from which I venture to 
 make a few extracts :— 
 
 “ I never passed through a certain valley and wood on 
 the skirts of Dartmoor without feeling myself compelled to 
 stop once and again to listen to the monotonous whirr of 
 what I had been told and what I believed to be the note 
 of the large green grasshopper or locust. ‘Monotonous^ is, 
 perhaps, not the right word to use; for an acute ear can 
 detect in the long unmusical jar a cadence descending, 
 sometimes a semitone, and occasionally almost a whole 
 note; and it seemed beside to increase in loudness for a 
 few seconds, and then to subside a little below the ordinary 
 pitch. The song of this bird is but an exaggeration of the 
 grasshopper’s note, and resembles the noise produced by 
 pulling out the line from the winch of a fishing-rod; no 
 less continuous is it, nor more melodious. On one occasion 
 in Hertfordshire, I crept quietly towards the spot whence 
 the noise proceeded; the sound ceased, and the movement 
 of a twig directed my attention towards a particular bush, 
 on which I saw a little bird about as big as a hedge sparrow, 
 quietly and cautiously dropping, branch by branch, to the 
 ground. In a few minutes I observed it again a few yards 
 off, creeping with a movement resembling that of the 
 nuthatch up another bush. Having reached to nearly the 
 
GRASSHOPPER WARBLER. 
 
 69 
 
 summit, it became motionless, stretched out its neck, and, 
 keeping its mandibles continuously open and slightly 
 elevated, commenced its trill again ; then it shuflfled about 
 for some seconds, and repeated the strain.” 
 
 The Grasshopper Warbler belongs to the aquatic warblers, 
 and therefore is usually found in marshy districts or in 
 thickets on the banks of streams, where it creeps about 
 like a mouse. In the case of the bird heard by Mr. Johns, 
 however, he tells us that it was several miles from any 
 stream. I hope to make further acquaintance with this 
 most interesting bird, and I shall feel greatly obliged for any 
 communication respecting its occurrence in Ireland. The 
 nest is placed on the ground, and the eggs, five or six in 
 number, are of a white colour, with specks of brownish-red. 
 In its general appearance the bird resembles the sedge 
 warbler; but it has no superciliary streak, and has a much 
 longer tail, rounded, and of a “ cuneiform character.^’ It 
 is of course insectivorous. 
 
 Since this notice was written, I have learned from that 
 laborious ornithologist, Mr. R. Ussher, J.P., that the bird 
 regularly frequents the neighbourhood of his residence, 
 Cappagh, Co. Waterford; and the Kev. W. Flemyng, 
 Kector of Clonegam, has repeatedly observed it near 
 Portlaw, in the same county. 
 
70 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 WHITETHROAT. 
 
 Sylvia rufa ; Becfin Grisette ; WeisskelcJien. 
 
 Nettle-creeper; Hajxhat; Polly Whitethroat; Peggy 
 Chaw. 
 
 Bill, legs, and claws, brown; head and neck, grey; hack 
 and wing coverts, reddish-brown; chin and throat, white ; 
 breast, whitish, tinged with rose-colour, which is wanting 
 in the female. Length, five inches and a-half. 
 
 Next to the willow warbler, this interesting bird seems 
 to be the most numerous and most widely distributed of 
 our summer migrants; yet it is one quite unknown to the 
 public generally, whose fauna as regards song birds is 
 limited to the blackbird, thrush, lark, robin, linnet, and 
 wren. It has been Avell said that this is a bird of the 
 thickets and the lanes; in this country perhaps, more 
 exactly, of “ the hedges and the lanes; ” for there are few 
 hedges unfurnished with a Whitethroat, and few country 
 lanes in which this merry warbler may not be heard and 
 seen as he flits from side to side, sallying ever and anon 
 into the air, and all the time apparently “ inebriated with 
 the exuberance of his own verbosity.” 
 
 The song of the Whitethroat is by no means of the first 
 order; at the same time, it is to me always a pleasing 
 sound, for to my mind a sort of golden thread, peculiar to 
 nearly all the warblers, seems to run through it. It is of 
 a peculiarly hurried nature; and the bird wdiilst singing 
 erects the feathers on his head, distends his throat, and 
 gesticulates with great vehemence. I have often noticed 
 that the song in some Whitethroats sounds something like 
 
WHITETHROAT. 
 
 71 
 
 ** see to the hay in the meadow ; ” and snatches of this 
 ditty may be heard as the bird darts over your head, or 
 watches your approach from some bush a few yards in 
 advance of your path. If you approach it very closely, the 
 song suddenly ceases, and instead you hear a warning cry 
 very like the word “ chaw ” uttered in a solemn voice ; 
 hence the name, “ Peggy Chaw,” sometimes given to the 
 bird. 
 
 Walking down a country lane, silence may reign until it 
 is broken by this warning note, which, uttered quite close to 
 you, has sometimes almost a startling effect; if 3 ^ou remain 
 quiet, and keep watch for a moment, j'ou will see the little 
 Whitethroat stealing round to have a good look at j^ou, or 
 seated motionless on a twig, with his eye fastened sus¬ 
 piciously upon you, and uttering every now and then this 
 menacing monosyllable. I have on more than one occa¬ 
 sion, however, heard the Whitethroat warble so delightfully 
 as to make me believe for the moment that I was listening 
 to some greatly superior songster; on these occasions the 
 bird usually interpolates the notes of other birds with his 
 own, and proves himself to be, like the sedge warbler, a 
 really good mocking-bird. 
 
 The term “ Nettle Creeper has been applied to the 
 Whitethroat, from the fact that it frequents hedges where 
 nettles abound, and that its nest may often be found 
 amongst their stems. In Ireland, however, the bird is 
 usually called the Polly Whitethroat, or, as I heard it once 
 styled by a bird-dealer, “the Great IrapayrialPolly White- 
 throat.’^ The food of the Whitethroat consists of insects, 
 and Mr. Seebohm tells us that the “daddy long legs^’ is 
 an especial dainty. It also is fond of a few currants, rasp¬ 
 berries, and other fruits when in season. This bird arrives 
 
72 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 towards the close of Aprils and leaves us again about the 
 end of August or beginning of September, although it is 
 found in England later than this. 
 
 Mr. Thompson mentions that, in a catalogue of Irish 
 birds, published in 1772, the following entry may be 
 found:— Mota cilia Curruca, w^hite-bellied nightingale, 
 seen about Ballydangan in May.” The bird is now, however, 
 to be found in all parts of the island; but as far as I am 
 aware, the Lesser Whitethroat [Sylvia Sylviella) has never 
 been observed in Ireland. The term Bahillard is applied 
 to both birds in France. 
 
 The eggs of the Whitethroat are usually four or five in 
 number, of a greenish-white colour, speckled with grey. 
 
 GARDEN WARBLER. 
 
 Sylvia salicaria; Fauvette des Jardins; Garten 
 Grasmiicke. 
 
 Greater Pettychaps. 
 
 Bill, tail, and claws, brown; head, neck, and nape, 
 greyish-brown; chin, throat, and breast, whitish, tinged 
 with rust-colour; wings, brown, first feather very short; 
 tail, dusky brown. Length, under six inches. 
 
 I can say but little of this bird, for I have never been 
 fortunate enough to see or hear it, although for some years 
 very anxious to do both. Mr. A. G. More, in his List of 
 Irish Birds, speaks of it as “a rare summer visitor, and 
 very local. Has been found breeding in the counties of 
 Antrim, Fermanagh, Tipperary, and probably Cork.” Sir 
 Victor Brooke, Colebrook, Fermanagh, thus writes to me of 
 
GARDEN WARBLER. 
 
 73 
 
 its occurrence : “ It is a regular summer visitor in the north 
 of Ireland, but confined mostly to places where the woods 
 are natural, fir plantations not affording it the indispen¬ 
 sable thick, tangled undergrowth it loves. In consequence 
 of this, it is not common.” 
 
 The Garden Warbler is a migratory bird, and arrives in 
 England before the end of April, the male, as is usual 
 with tbe warblers, somewhat in advance of the female. 
 It is rare in the west of England, and is said to be absent 
 from Wales. Mr. Harting, however, thinks that it has 
 probably been overlooked by the comparatively few natural¬ 
 ists to be found in the latter country. The same writer, 
 in his Sketches of Bird Life, quotes the following estimate 
 of its song, by Mr. Robert Gray, who frequently heard it 
 in Scotland:— 
 
 “ In the sheltered and wooded districts of the midland 
 and southern counties it is one of the most attractive 
 songsters, tuning its loud and gleeful pipe on the top of 
 some fruit tree an hour or two after daybreak, and again 
 about dusk. These love-notes, however, are not of long 
 continuance, for the bird becomes silent after the young 
 are hatched, unless a second brood is reared, v/hen the 
 same wild, yet mellow, blackbird-like song is again for a 
 short time heard.” 
 
 The Rev. F. 0. Morris thus estimates its vocal 
 powers :— 
 
 “ It is one of those species which, as the Psalmist says, 
 
 ‘ sing among the branches and the note, which is heard 
 up to August, is exquisitely sweet, rich, and flute-like. Its 
 voice is mostly uttered from the depth of some shady 
 recess, but sometimes also from the top of a moderate¬ 
 sized tree. Some of the notes are low and soft, others 
 
74 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 loud and clear, and the harmony of the whole falls with a 
 most pleasing cadence on the ear of the listener.” 
 
 I hope that I may be privileged next year to hear this 
 charming song, and judge for myself of its merits. 
 
 The nest is generally built in a low bush, and the eggs, 
 four or five in number, are of a whitish colour, spotted with 
 two shades of brown; they much resemble those of the 
 blackcap. 
 
 NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 Philomela luscinia; Rossignol ordinaire ; Nachtigall. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; legs and claws, pale brown ; upper 
 plumage, chestnut brown ; chin, throat, and breast, whitish; 
 tail, red brown, somewhat rounded at the end. Length, 
 over six inches. 
 
 The Nightingale hardly deserves to be included in the 
 list of Irish songsters, although a single specimen, which I 
 have lately seen preserved in the Museum, Queen^s Col¬ 
 lege, Cork, is said to have been obtained at the Old Head 
 of Kinsale. I was, therefore, glad to make this an oppor¬ 
 tunity for noticing the most delightful of British songsters ; 
 without it, my book would resemble that representation of 
 Hamlet, from which, by particular desire,” the part of 
 Hamlet was omitted. 
 
 The partial distribution of the Nightingale is a very 
 curious circumstance. It has been said never to have 
 arrived further north in England than Carlisle and Scar¬ 
 borough, its most northerly breeding-place being a wood 
 
NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 75 
 
 near Doncaster; and yet it is found in Siberia, in Eiissia, 
 and in Sweden. In Scotland a pair are said to have bred 
 in Calder Wood, in West Lothian. In Wales it is unknown, 
 and so it was in Ireland until the single occurrence noted. 
 
 It has been supposed by some naturalists that the migra¬ 
 tions of the bird are almost due north and south, and that 
 it never passes to the westward of three degrees west 
 longitude; this would exclude part of Devonshire, all 
 Cornwall, part of Cheshire, and all North Wales. The 
 only reason that has been assigned for this curious fact is 
 that the West of England and Wales do not produce the 
 vegetation upon which the insects feed that constitute the 
 staple food of the Nightingale. Others have thought that 
 this bird usually avoids a hilly country; that it flies low, 
 and that the east of England is best suited to its habits, 
 as being for the most part flat. It has been noticed also 
 that where hills do occur, the Nightingale seeks other 
 localities, and is found for the most part in the cultivated 
 plains. Humours that a Nightingale has been heard sing¬ 
 ing are common enough from time to time both in Wales 
 and in Ireland ; but on inquiry it has always been found 
 that some otlier night singer has been mistaken for the 
 queen of song. 
 
 The Nightingale usually arrives in England about the 
 middle of April, the males, as is the case with many 
 migratory birds, arriving a few days before the females. 
 Mr. Ilarting mentions that in 1867 three London bird- 
 catchers, between April 13 and May 2, took 225 Nightin¬ 
 gales ; and the whole of these, with five or six exceptions 
 were cock birds. It is considered a matter of great 
 importance to capture the male birds before the arrival of 
 
76 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 tlie females, as, if taken after they have paired, they in¬ 
 variably die in captivity. 
 
 Since the increase of ornamental gardens in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood of London, Nightingales have become compara¬ 
 tively numerous, and have been frequently heard in the 
 Botanical Gardens, KegenBs Park, Victoria Park, and in 
 Kensington Gardens. The song ceases at the* close of the 
 first week in June, and Nightingales are, therefore, only in 
 song for about seven weeks in the year. 
 
 The song of the Nightingale has for ages been the theme 
 of the poets,* and many of their theories are new to the 
 ornithologist. They speak of the bird as the only songster 
 of the night, and as singing only by night. They always 
 make the singing bird a female, and she is “ bereaved,’^ 
 “lorn,” “solitary,” “ mournful; whereas, as we know, 
 the male Nightingale alone is the songster, and he sings 
 “ always to his brooding mate.” Shelley seems to make 
 the bird a lark, for he speaks of her as “ climbing in circles 
 the wundless sky.” Even the great Shakespeare himself is 
 credited with the idea that the sadness of the Nightingale^s 
 song was partly due to the fact that, as she sang, she 
 “ leaned her breast up till a thorn.” For so Lucrece :— 
 
 “And whiles against a thorn thou bear’st thy part 
 To keep thy sharp woes waking.” 
 
 So, too, Pomfret :— 
 
 “ The first music of the grove we owe 
 To mourning Philomel’s harmonious woe ; 
 
 And while her grief in charming notes express’d, 
 
 A thorny bramble pricks her tender breast.” 
 
 * See “ The Poet’s Birds.' 
 
NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 77 
 
 Mr. Harting thinks that Sir Thomas Browne was pro¬ 
 bably right when he ascribed the origin of this odd idea to 
 the fact that “the Nightingale placeth her some prickles on 
 the outside of her nest, or roosteth in thorny, prickly places, 
 where serpents may least approach her.^’ It has been 
 noticed, however, in the Zoologist for 1862, by Kev. A. C. 
 Smith, that on two occasions a strong thorn was found pro¬ 
 jecting upwards in the centre of the Nightingale^s nest, 
 the result, of course, of accident; and Mr. Hewitson has 
 adduced similar instances in the case of the hedge sparrow. 
 
 So much has been written about the song of the 
 Nightingale, that I think it unnecessary to say much upon 
 the subject. The two things that most impressed me in 
 it were its liquidness and its power. In the first of these 
 qualities I believe that no songster can approach the 
 Nightingale; and with regard to the latter, I was astonished 
 to find, in listening to a Nightingale in England, at 
 Anglesey, near Alverstoke, when on a visit to my old 
 pupil, F. J. Barton, that the concluding notes were taken 
 up by an echo. I at first imagined that I was listening 
 to another bird at a distance; but I soon found that this 
 was not the case. 
 
 Mr. Frank Buckland, in his Notes to White’s Selborne, 
 gives Mr. Davy’s reading of the song of the Nightingale, as 
 follows:— 
 
 “ It commences with ‘ wheeting ’ and ‘ kurring,’ which 
 may be thus written : 
 
 ‘ Wheet, wheet, kure, k-u-u-r-r.’ 
 
 The song after that commences : 
 
 ‘ Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, 
 jug, jug, jug, jug. 
 
 Swot, swot, swot, swotty.’ 
 
78 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 They lie a long time on these notes, finishing up with 
 ‘ swotting ^ and ‘ kurring.’ The ‘ sweet ’ is pronounced 
 in a plaintive manner; the ‘jug^ is quick, like a dog 
 barking.” 
 
 The call-note “ sweet” is much akin to the “ whit” of 
 the wood warbler and willow warbler, and the “ hoo-id ” of 
 the chiff-chaff; it is, however, always in the Nightingale 
 followed by a warning “ kurr,” which somewhat reminds 
 me of the whitethroat’s utterances. 
 
 The Nightingale sings by day as well as by night; but 
 in the multitude of songsters in May and June his notes 
 are often overlooked. I heard a perfect babel of bird¬ 
 songs some years ago in the Isle of Wight. There were 
 not a few Nightingales’ voices amongst them ; but they had 
 by no means the same effect as when heard in the stillness 
 of the summer night. For my own part, I believe that if 
 our blackbird were to sing at night, his song would be 
 almost as much appreciated as that of England’s famous 
 warbler. 
 
 The most probable reason for the absence of the Night¬ 
 ingale from Scotland, Devonshire, Cornwall, North Wales, 
 Ireland, and other places, is that the small beetles and 
 caterpillars upon which it feeds are not to be found in these 
 localities; various attempts have been made to induce 
 young birds to remain in Scotland and elsewhere, but 
 always without success. 
 
 As the habits of the Nightingale most closely resemble 
 those of the robin, the eggs of the latter have sometimes 
 been taken away, and those of the Nightingale put in their 
 stead, in the hope that the young birds would return year 
 after year to the place of their birth, as we know that swifts, 
 swallows, and other birds do ; but this expectation has, 
 
BLACKCAP WARBLER. 
 
 79 
 
 always been disappointed. Sir Robert Jardine offered one 
 shilling a-piece for all the Nightingales’ eggs that could be 
 procured, and sent a great number to his country seat near 
 Edinburgh, where they were placed in robins’ nests. In 
 many cases the young birds were hatched and reared. 
 They flew about in the vicinity for some weeks after, and 
 when the period of migration arrived, departed to return 
 no more. 
 
 So many Nightingales are captured on their arrival in 
 England, that it has been supposed that the birds must 
 breed in their winter quarters, or the supply could never 
 be maintained. Mr. Blyth, however, declares “ that mi¬ 
 gratory birds, with the exception of two species of sand 
 martin, do not even pair until they have returned to their 
 summer haunts.” 
 
 It seems almost too much to hope that this famous 
 songster will ever bo naturalized in Ireland. I trust, how¬ 
 ever, that many of my readers may be privileged to hear it 
 in England or elsewhere, and as they listen to those 
 “sweet descants,” join with “rare old Izaak ” in saying, 
 “Lord, what music hast Thou provided for the saints in 
 heaven, when Thou affordest bad men such music on 
 earth ! ” 
 
 BLACKCAP WARBLER. 
 
 Sylvia atricapilla ; Fauvette a tete noire ; Schwarzkopf. 
 
 Bill and feet, black; head and crown, black, but in the 
 female, chocolate brown; back, brownish ash-colour; 
 breast, ash-colour, white lower down; tail, brown and 
 somewhat forked. Length, over five and a-half inches. 
 
80 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 This delightful songster is unhappily very rare in Ire¬ 
 land. Mr. Thompson mentions several instances of its 
 occurrence in different localities, and tells us that he heard 
 its song for the first time in Shane^s Castle Park, County 
 Antrim. He says: “ When accompanied by Mr. Selby and 
 the Kev. Edward Bigge, of Merton College, Oxford, the 
 song of a bird which I had not before heard attracted me ; 
 and the attention of the former gentleman being called to 
 it, he stated it to be unquestionably that of the Blackcap, 
 with which he was quite familiar. On the following day, 
 we heard the song of another repeated for a long time in 
 Massareene Park, on the other side of the lake. Neither 
 songster was seen.” 
 
 Some years ago one of my pupils shot a young Blackcap 
 near the saw mills on the River Dodder, about three miles 
 from Dublin, and forwarded it to me. Not very long after 
 I received another specimen, shot by Mr. Blandford, at 
 Oldcastle, County Meath. I was therefore anxious to see 
 and hear the bird for myself, and, lecturing on birds at 
 St. Werburgh’s Temperance Association, under the presi¬ 
 dency of the Rev. Canon Greene, I mentioned that there 
 were some birds in Ireland I was most desirous to observe, 
 in particular the Blackcap, wood warbler, garden warbler, 
 woodlark, and ring ousel, and stating that I should be 
 happy to give a small reward to anyone who would tell me 
 the localities where they might be found. A few evenings 
 afterwards, having had some new palings erected between 
 our garden at Elm Park and the front lawn, I was 
 sedulously engaged in painting them green when I observed 
 a respectable-looking young lad coming up the avenue ; 
 laying down the paint-brush, which had already done some 
 execution on my own apparel, I awaited his approach. 
 
BLACKCAP WARBLEE. 
 
 81 
 
 “Have I the pleasure of addressing Dr.Benson?” said he. 
 I stated my conviction that he had. “I was at your 
 lecture the other evening,” said he, “ and I want no 
 reward f’or telling you where at least one of the birds you 
 named, the Blackcap, is certain to be found; for I have 
 often listened to it there.” “And where is that?” I re¬ 
 joined. “Near St. Valerie,” said he, “ on the road from 
 Bray to the Dargle. I have often stood on the bridge and 
 heard it sing.” I thanked him heartily, and said that I 
 w'ould go out almost immediately, in the hope of hearing 
 it too. And then entering into some conversation with my 
 kind informant, I said, “I suppose that you are engaged 
 at business during the day.” He said, “Yes; that he had 
 come up from the County Cork to the great city.” And 
 then I went on : “ In what line are you then ? ” He 
 answered at once, “ In the same line as you are.” It 
 occurred to me that ho meant that as I was a poor school¬ 
 master, he, too, was something in the scholastic way; 
 but to make sure, I added, “ And what line is that ? ” 
 “ The oil and colour line,'' said he; “ for I am an appren¬ 
 tice in Brooks and Thomas’ ”—one of the largest Dublin 
 houses engaged in the painting and papering business. 
 The wit and readiness of the answer struck me as irresis¬ 
 tibly humorous, as I stood with my paint-pot and brush at 
 my feet, and the stains of green paint here and there on 
 ray face, and hands, and clothes; and I can never hear or 
 think of the Blackcap since without recalling my young 
 friend, through whose means I first made the acquaintance, 
 in Ireland, of this unrivalled songster. I ought to add 
 that, a few days after, I went out to Bray, and stood on the 
 bridge near St. Valerie; and although I did not hear the 
 Blackcap there, yet I did hear it a very few minutes^ walk 
 
82 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 further on, just inside the entrance gate to Lord Monck’s 
 demesne at the Dargle, and I have gone to hear it there 
 every season since. 
 
 It is remarkable that Mr. Barrington, of Fassaroe, a 
 well-known naturalist, had noted its breeding in his grounds 
 during successive years; and this would show that this 
 particular locality is much favoured by those birds, as 
 Fassaroe is only a very short distance from the Dargle 
 demesne. I have never been able to hear the Blackcap 
 elsewhere in Ireland; and having repeatedly gone over the 
 ground, I am of opinion that whilst there were two Black¬ 
 caps in the neighbourhood, there was but one w'ood warbler, 
 a still rarer bird, wdiich I had also the good fortune to hear 
 for the first time in this country when I took the hint 
 given me by the young gentleman “in the same line as 
 myself.” 
 
 The song of the Blackcap is, to use a phrase of Mr. 
 Harting, “ simply delightful.” There is something 
 wonderfully rich and mellow in it; but to hear it in per¬ 
 fection, the bird must stop and warble at some length: for 
 when, searching for food, it roams half hopping and half 
 creeping through the trees, it only emits a few rich notes, 
 which can give but a faint idea of the real power and beauty 
 of the song. Some years ago I heard the Blackcap sing 
 near Clifton Suspension Bridge. I had never heard the 
 bird before, and thought at first that I was probably 
 listening to the nightingale, until a sight of the bird 
 shewed me my mistake. I do not think that I ever heard 
 so lovely a bird song as that was; and it concluded with 
 three trills which surpassed anything I had ever heard 
 before, or indeed since, the song of the Icterine warbler 
 alone excepted. 
 
BLACKCAP WARBLER. 
 
 83 
 
 Many prefer the song of the thrush to that of the black¬ 
 bird; and just the same taste probably leads them to prefer 
 the song of the nightingale to that of the Blackcap. But 
 for my own part, the blackbird^s and the Blackcap’s songs 
 touch my heart more than any other bird music I have ever 
 heard. The black cap of the male makes him conspicuous 
 enough for observation. The head of the female is brown, 
 and she is said to be larger than the male—a very unusual 
 circumstance in birds of this family. 
 
 The Blackcap usually arrives about the middle or end of 
 April, and leaves us again in September; it ceases to sing 
 about the first week in July. It has, strangely enough, 
 sometimes been shot in winter; and Mr. Thompson men¬ 
 tions such instances of its occurrence near Kaheny, Co. 
 Dublin, near Clonmel, and also in the counties of Cork and 
 Galway at this season. 
 
 The food of the Blackcap consists early in the year of 
 insects and caterpillars ; in July, however, it develops a 
 taste for raspberries, and encourages its young in seeking 
 similar dainties; for it is probably the greatest berry-eater 
 of all our warblers. But who would grudge a few rasp¬ 
 berries in return for such music as it has to give ? The 
 nest is generally placed in some low bush, sometimes in 
 the holly, and at times among briars and brambles. The 
 eggs, from four to six in number, are variously coloured, 
 but usually whitish, with brown and black spots. The cock 
 assists the hen in the task of incubation. 
 
 I hope that many of my readers may hear the delightful 
 song of the Blackcap, “ full, sweet, deep, loud, and wild,” 
 as Gilbert White describes it; and I think that they will 
 hardly fail, if they try the neighbourhood of the Dargle 
 and Enniskerry in the sweet spring-time of the year. 
 
84 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 WOOD WARBLER. 
 
 Phylloscopus sibilatrix; Becfin siffieur; Wald Lauhvogel. 
 
 Larger Willow Wren ; Yellow Wood Wren ; Green 
 Wren. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; legs, pale brown; upper plumage, 
 bright 3 ^ellowish-green; chin, throat, and hreast, yellow; 
 streak of bright yellow over the eye; under plumage, 
 white. Length, five inches and a-quarter. May be dis¬ 
 tinguished from the willow wren by its larger size, brighter 
 colour, and more slender shape. 
 
 Of the “ three willow wrens the Wood Warbler is the 
 largest and the rarest. Mr. Thompson, in his Birds of 
 Ireland, says that “it holds a very doubtful place in our 
 fauna.” Mr. Watters does not mention it at all. For my 
 own part, I have only observed it in one locality, and 
 almost exactly in the same place for two successive years 
 (1882 and 1883). I was well acquainted with the song, 
 having heard it near Beaumaris, and again at Oulton Hall, 
 Norfolk. I was therefore greatly gratified when I heard it 
 at the Dargle, not far from Lord Monck’s entrance gate. 
 I visited the glen several times in order to hear and see 
 the bird, and brought some friends with me on two or 
 three occasions for the same purpose. As far as I could 
 judge, there was but one Wood Warbler at the Dargle in 
 each year, probably the same bird, whilst there were two 
 blackcaps. In 1884 I observed the blackcap again in the 
 vicinity,; but my search for the Wood Warbler was in vain. 
 In 1885 I heard it once at the Glen of the Downs, 
 
WOOD WARBLER. 
 
 85 
 
 County Wicklow; it has also been heard at Shillelagh by 
 Allan Ellison, in Donegal, and near Lough Erne. 
 
 It is not very easy sometimes to distinguish between the 
 three willow wrens, save by the song, which differs widely 
 in all three. It may be stated, however, that the Wood 
 Warbler is the largest and the greenest of the three, that 
 he has a better defined superciliary streak than the willow 
 warbler, that he is much whiter on the breast and belly, 
 and that when he first arrives, he is in his loveliest 
 plumage of yellow and green. The chiff-chaff is a smaller 
 and thinner bird; his legs, too, are dark brown, whilst 
 those of the Wood Warbler and willow wren are a brownish 
 flesh colour. Mr. Harting, in his valuable monograph on 
 our Slimmer Migrants, states that, on examining a large 
 series of willow wrens, he has come to the conclusion that, 
 as regards the wings, the following formula may be relied 
 on :— 
 
 Wood Warbler, 2iid feather equal to 4th ; 3rd and 4th with 
 outer webs sloped off towards the extremity. 
 
 Willow Warbler, 2iid equal to 6th ; 3rd, 4th, and 5th sloped 
 off. 
 
 Chiff-chaff, 2nd equal to 7th; 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th sloped 
 off. 
 
 The song of the Wood Warbler deserves to be styled a 
 remarkable rather than a melodious one; in my opinion it 
 is by no means equal to that of the willow warbler. It has 
 been well represented by the syllables, “tweet, tweet, 
 tweet, teet, teet, teet, tee, tee, tee, ee, ee, ee,’^ pronounced 
 with a certain hissing sound—hence the terms sihilatrix 
 and siffieur —and hurried towards the close; as the bird 
 sings, it seems much agitated, its throat distended, and its 
 head turned from side to side. The term “ shivering note’’ 
 
86 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 has been applied to this song by Gilbert White and others, 
 and with some propriety; the syllables mentioned before, 
 however, seem to me exactly to describe it. After singing 
 it sometimes utters a curious shrill cry, so very unlike the 
 song as to lead one to believe that it must proceed from 
 some other bird. When listening to this bird in Norfolk, 
 I pointed out this peculiarity to my kind host, Mr. Bolton ; 
 but he could hardly credit what I said till he saw and 
 heard for himself. Wood Warblers also have a “ tweet 
 or “ twe-it which much resembles the “ whit of the 
 willow warbler and “ hoo-id ” of the chilF-chaff. 
 
 Mr. A. G. More, F.L.S., in his list of Dublin birds, 
 mentions the Wood Warbler as noticed by Mr. Blake Knox 
 at Glen Druid, and at Derrybawn and Powerscourt, in the 
 Co. Wicklow, by Mr. PI. C. Hart; it is probable, however, 
 the bird might be seen and heard in various other localities 
 by competent observers, for a specimen was shot in the 
 Co. Fermanagh by Sir Victor Brooke, in June, 1870. I 
 should like very much to have an opportunity of exploring 
 the woods and hills of some of our midland counties in 
 May and June for this and one or two other birds which 
 may possibly have escaped notice. 
 
 The Wood Warbler builds a domed nest, and on the 
 ground, like the willow warbler ; the entrance is at the 
 side. The eggs, usually six in number, are white, pro¬ 
 fusely spotted with purple-brown. 
 
WILLOW W'ARBLER. 
 
 87 
 
 WILLOW AYARBLER. 
 
 Phylloscopus trochilus ; Becfiii Potiillot; Laubvogel. 
 Willow AA^ren; Golden AVren; Sallypecker; Hay Bird. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; upper plumage, dull olive-green ; 
 chin and throat, whitish ; breast, lighter; yellow streak 
 over the e^’e. Length, about five inches. 
 
 This is perhaps the most delightful of all the warblers 
 that visit this country, the blackcap only excepted; and 
 that sweet songster is so very rare as to be almost unknown 
 to any but a few ornithologists; but the little AVillow 
 AYarbler is abundant everywhere ; his active form may be 
 seen in almost every tree, and his sweet and gentle song 
 enlivens every plantation in the country. 
 
 In Ireland this bird is generally known as the “ sally- 
 pecker,” and is one of our earliest visitants, arriving gene¬ 
 rally third in the list, the wheatear being first, and the 
 chiff-chaff second. I have, however, on at least one occa¬ 
 sion, noticed the ai-rival of the AVillow AYarbler in March ; 
 in that year it preceded the chiff-chaff; but it usually 
 arrives about ten days or a fortnight after that pre-emi¬ 
 nently “ early bird.” 
 
 The AATllow AYarbler spends our winter season in Africa ; 
 it is common in the valley of the Nile, and, according to 
 Mr. Seebohm, is found as far south as the Cape and the 
 Transvaal. It is also found in Persia, India, and North 
 America, but has not yet been observed in the Hebrides, 
 although it has been seen occasionally in Orkney, and once 
 at least in Shetland. In Ireland it is hard to say where it 
 
88 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 is not found, and from April to July its song is perhaps 
 the most frequent we hear. 
 
 The call-note of the Willow Warbler closely resembles 
 that of the chiff-chalf, hut is shorter, “ whit ” or “ whid ” 
 instead of “ hoo-id indeed this call, with modifications, 
 seems common to the three willow wrens, as they have 
 been so often called. The song is of a very sweet and 
 plaintive description; it begins with syllables sounding 
 Something like “ weechy, weechy,” and consisting of about 
 eight syllables altogether, and sometimes more; the end¬ 
 ing varies. The bird ceases to sing towards the end of 
 July, but often resumes its song in September, before its 
 departure. The close observer will, however, note a change; 
 it is more plaintive than before, and the ending, too, is 
 different. To my mind there is something very pathetic in 
 that autumn song; to me it seems always to close with the 
 words, But I am going, going.^^ 
 
 Three reasons have been assigned for the name “Willow 
 Warbler^’ or “ willow wren.” Yarrell thinks from the pre¬ 
 vailing green colour of the bird. Mr. Thompson, in his 
 Birds of Iredandy says: “ This name was doubtless bestowed 
 upon the bird originally on account of its partiality to 
 willows, which I have frequently remarked, the twigs and 
 branches of the common osier, abounding with aphides, 
 being on such occasions its chief favourite.” Mr. Harting, 
 however, suggests that the name may have been bestowed 
 from the circumstance that these little birds make their 
 appearance just as the willow is budding. Gilbert White 
 speaks of three willow wrens, the smallest, the middle, and 
 the largest, meaning, doubtless, the chiff-chaff, the Willow 
 Warbler, and the wood warbler. The last of these, as we 
 have seen, is very rare in Ireland; but the other two are 
 
WILLOW WAEBLER. 
 
 89 
 
 the most widely distributed of all the- warblers, the second 
 being decidedly the more plentiful. 
 
 Mr. Harting mentions some instances which show that 
 the Willow Warbler possesses powers of flight we could 
 hardly conceive from merely witnessing the short excur¬ 
 sions it makes in this country. 
 
 “ On the 23rd of April a willow wren came on board a 
 vessel eighty miles from Malta, and fifty from Cape Passaro, 
 the nearest land. Two days later another alighted on the 
 rigging sixty miles from Calabria, and 135 from Mount 
 Etna. On the 16th of April, eighty miles from Zante, and 
 130 from Navarino, a willow wren and a chiff-chaff were 
 found dead on board, presumably from exhaustion, as they 
 were apparently uninjured.” 
 
 I was, when a boy, for a long time unable to identify 
 this pretty little bird; for, judging from the plates in 
 works on ornithology, I expected it to be a much greener 
 bird than it really is. To most observers it seems to be 
 rather brownish on the back, with a pale breast, merging 
 into silver lower down. The green is, however, as before 
 remarked, very apparent in the wood warbler. 
 
 The nest is always made upon the ground, and usually 
 in thick grass ; it is invariably lined with feathers, whereas 
 the nest of the wood warbler is lined with grass and hair; 
 both nests are domed. The eggs, from five to seven in 
 number, are white, speckled with rust-colour. 
 
90 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 CHIFF-CHAFF. 
 
 Phylloscopus collyhita; Becjiiivdoce; Weiclen Lauhvogel; 
 
 Tjif Tjaf (Dutch). 
 
 Sallypecker; Lesser Pettjcliaps; Least Willow Wren. 
 
 Bill, legs, and toes, dark brown ; upper plumage, dark 
 olive-green; faint streak over the eye ; chin, throat, and 
 breast, dull white. Length, four inches and a-half. 
 
 This hardy little bird is one of the first to arrive on our 
 shores in the early spring ; it usually makes its appearance 
 in the neighbourhood of Dublin before the end of March. 
 It seems strange that so small a bird should visit our 
 shores at a time in which in most years winter still lingers; 
 it is not improbable, however, that some members of this 
 species do not leave the British Isles at all, but remain in 
 the southern parts of England until the first dawnings of 
 the spring. A few birds of this species have thus been 
 noticed in Cornwall; and Mr. Dresser states that in 
 January, 1872, he heard the well-known notes of the Chiff- 
 chaff in the grounds surrounding the Crystal Palace at 
 Sydenham. 
 
 If a few remain with us all the year round, how'ever, 
 there still can be no doubt that the Chiff-chaff is strictly a 
 summer migrant, and that it is possessed of powers of 
 endurance of cold and hardship which seem wonderful in 
 so small and apparently fragile a bird. 
 
 In Ireland the song of the Chiff-chaff is one of the 
 earliest harbingers of summer days; and my good friend, 
 the Astronomer Boyal of Ireland, no mean authority on 
 
CHIFF-CHAFF. 
 
 91 
 
 birds, is wont to mark it by the presentation to a J’onng 
 friend in the neighbourhood of a book with the date of its 
 first occurrence inscribed as “ Chiff-chaflf Day.” 
 
 The notes from which this bird derives its name really 
 constitute its song; they are usually interpreted as “ chiff 
 chaff, chilf chaffbut many variations may be noted. At 
 times it is chiff chaff, chaff chaff;” at others, “chiff 
 chaff, cherry, churry.” Some think it more like “chink, 
 chank;” whilst in Normandy the bird is called compteur 
 iVargent, in allusion to its song. It seems not unlikely 
 that this latter name has given its origin to the strange 
 word “ collybita,” often applied to this bird, and apparently 
 derived from the Greek word, KoWv^Lom'j'^ (kollubistes), a 
 money-changer. If we approach the Chiff-chaff closely, 
 the song usually ceases, and instead of it we hear only 
 a low, chattering sound, something like “ cheep, cheep, 
 cheep. 
 
 The alarm-note, according to Meyer, is represented by 
 the word, “hood-id”—a note which can only be distin¬ 
 guished by a practised ear from that of the willow 
 warbler. 
 
 The Chiff-chaff is by no means as plentiful in Ireland as 
 the willow warbler ; still it may be seen and heard in pro¬ 
 bably every county from time to time. It often frequents 
 lofty trees, in which the latter bird is seldom found; and 
 from their summit its tiny note, like a chime of bells, may 
 be heard sometimes at a distance of half a mile. In the 
 grounds surrounding Elm Park the willow Avarbler may be 
 heard every day and all day from April to July; but we 
 usually hear the Chiff-chaff only twice or thrice in the 
 season, and generally just before its departure in Sep¬ 
 tember. 
 
92 
 
 OUE lEISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The food of this little bird consists entirely of insects, 
 and Eev. J. G. Wood says that it saves many a good oak 
 from destruction by devouring on its first arrival the cater¬ 
 pillars of the green oak moth; it also feeds on aphides 
 and flies, which it may be seen catching on the wing. The 
 Chift-chaff has sometimes been called “ the oven-builder,” 
 from the shape of the nest which it constructs. It is 
 usually placed on the ground, hut sometimes in a low hush, 
 or in the stump of a tree. Its six eggs are white, with 
 dark purple spots. 
 
 GOLDEN-CEESTED WEEN. 
 
 Eegulus cristatiis; Roitelet ordinaire; Goldkopjige. 
 
 Bill, black; legs and claws, brown ; crest, orange-yel¬ 
 low, with black band on each side ; forehead, whitish ; 
 head, on the sides, yellowish ; neck and back, olive-green ; 
 chin, throat, and breast, yellowish-grey ; tail, dusky, with 
 greenish-yellow margin. Length, three inches and a-half. 
 
 The Golden-crested Wren is the smallest European bird, 
 and one of the most beautiful. Although a common bird 
 in Ireland, it is probably more frequently overlooked than 
 any of our resident song birds ; few, indeed, save the orni¬ 
 thologist, seem to be aw'are of its existence here. It 
 is well known that its numbers are greatly increased in 
 Great Britain by the arrival in the autumn of hundreds of 
 birds from the North of Europe; such an arrival of 
 Gold-crests was witnessed by Mr. Selby on the Nor¬ 
 thumberland coast, where great numbers were so fatigued 
 and overcome by a change of wind, or by the length of 
 
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN. 
 
 93 
 
 tlieir journey, as to drop the moment they reached land, 
 incapable of further exertion. 
 
 The habits of the Gold-crest are very similar to those of the 
 tits, and the bird might possibly be mistaken at a distance 
 for a blue or a coal tit ; the notes, however, are different, 
 and as you draw nearer, the crest on the head at once leads 
 to its identification. Mr. Mudie remarks of the Gold-crest 
 that “ it whisks about, now on this side, now on that, 
 more like a meteor than a being of solid matter; ” and 
 certainly there is something fairy-like in the attitudes and 
 gestures of these little birds as they sport about the trees 
 in small parties in the autumn and winter. The word 
 “ tiny ” seems to me best to describe the bird itself and 
 its song; the call-note somewhat resembles that of the 
 tits—a “ see, see,^^ or “ tzit; ” but the song has often been 
 compared to the music of tiny bells. Others have thought 
 that there was something that reminded them of a wdieel in 
 its peculiar iteration, and this seems to me to be nearest 
 the truth. It is heard very early in the year, and is some¬ 
 times uttered when the bird is on the wing. 
 
 The nest, which is a very beautiful one, is placed under 
 the branch of a fir-tree, and generally near the end of the 
 bough. It is made of wool and moss, is lined with 
 feathers, and spiders’ webs are used to compact the struc¬ 
 ture. The eggs, from six to ten in number, are of the 
 size of peas, and generally of a pale white, speckled with 
 brown or red. 
 
94 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 WREN. 
 
 Troglodytes parvidus; Troglodyte ordinaire; Zaunkonig. 
 
 Bill, rather long and brownish ; upper plumage, reddish- 
 brown, with bars of dark brown ; chin and throat, grejdsh; 
 light streak over the eye; tail, short and erect. Length, 
 less than four inches. 
 
 The little Wren is one of the smallest birds in the land. 
 Always associated with Cock Robin, and by many supposed 
 as Jenny Wren to be a near connection of that favourite 
 bird, if not indeed his wdfe, the Wren by no means shares 
 his popularity in Ireland, but is contrariwise persecuted, 
 for reasons hereafter to be mentioned, with unrelenting 
 ferocity. 
 
 The Wren is widely distributed in the old world, ranging 
 from Scandinavia in the north to Algeria in the south; 
 and it is remarkable that Europe, Asia, and Africa present 
 us with but this one specimen of the group of birds to 
 wdiich it belongs, the bird called the Northern Wren occur¬ 
 ring only in Iceland, the Faroes, and a few other islands. 
 It has been thought by Mr. Seebohm and others that the 
 Wren in the island of St. Kilda differs in some particulars 
 from that of the mainland. It has, however, I believe, 
 been decided by most ornithologists that these differences 
 are insufficient to constitute it a distinct species. The 
 active figure of fhe hardy little Wren, and its loud and 
 cheerful song, may be seen and heard in every lane and 
 hedgerow, and by every cottage-side in Ireland. 
 
 The song of the Wren somewhat resembles that of the 
 canary, and is wonderfully loud for so small a bird. It is 
 usually uttered from the topmost twig in the hedge, through 
 which the bird has been, mouse-like, threading its way, and 
 when ended, the little warbler again disappears for a time. 
 
WREN. 
 
 95 
 
 I seldom hear a Wren without remembering the late Chief 
 Justice Whiteside’s definition of a true orator—“ He has 
 something to say ; he says it, and then at once sits down.” 
 The Wren’s cry of alarm sounds something like “ chit, 
 chit,” uttered in a sustained chattering tone, and hence 
 probably the sobriquet, “Kitty” Wren, sometimes given 
 to the bird. Although by no means similar, I constantly 
 find people who are unable to distinguish between the 
 songs of the hedge sparrow, Wren, and willow warbler. 
 
 Two or three curious facts about the nest of the Wren 
 have frequently been made subject of remark: one is that 
 the Wren adapts the materials of the exterior of the nest to 
 the place where it is constructed, so as. to avoid all those 
 contrasts of colouring which might attract passers-by, and 
 thus endanger its safety. For instance, if placed in a hay¬ 
 stack, the outside will be composed of hay ; if on a mossy 
 bank, of moss, or under a tree, of twigs, and so on. Mr. 
 Hal ting mentions a case in which a Wren built a nest on 
 the stump of a tree, and hatched out its young ones. Next 
 year it built another on the top of the old one, and thus 
 inhabited “ a storied house.” 
 
 Another peculiarity is that the bird sometimes constructs 
 several nests in spring; these are not intended for incuba¬ 
 tion, but are evidently meant for “ houses of refuge,” the 
 bird removing from one to another, as may seem desirable 
 in the wintry weather. These “ cocks’ nests,” as they are 
 usually called, are, however, thus accounted for by a writer 
 in the Magazine of Natural History :—“ During the 
 period of incubation, the male, apparently from a desire to 
 be doing something, constructs as many as half-a-dozen 
 nests in the vicinity of the first, none of which are lined 
 with feathers; and whilst the first nest is so carefully 
 
96 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 concealed as to be seldom found, the latter are very fre¬ 
 quently seen.” 
 
 On the other hand, it is well known that Wrens crowd 
 together in severe weather, and these nests are probably 
 designed to afford shelter and accommodation when needed 
 in such trying times. 
 
 The nest is a large one for the size of the bird, and is 
 domed and spherical, save on the side by which it is 
 fastened to some object. Mr. Macgillivray mentions one 
 which, begun on the 30th of May, was not completed until 
 the 8th of June, both cock and hen working with unabated 
 diligence until it was finished. The outline of the nest is 
 usually traced first, and then the sides are enclosed, leaving 
 only an aperture for entrance at the top. 
 
 The Wren lays seven or eight eggs, of a pale reddish- 
 white colour, although sometimes a much larger number 
 may be found; and it is said that on one occasion as 
 many as twenty were taken out of a single nest. 
 
 On St. Stephen’s Day, December 26, the “ Wren Boys ” 
 may be seen in most parts of Ireland carrying rushes 
 decked with streamers, in the midst of which a little ball 
 usually does duty for a Wren, and soliciting “ backsheesh ” 
 from everyone they meet. In some places the heads of the 
 “ boys ” are enveloped in stooks or wisps of hay. The chant, 
 as I have often heard it in Waterford, runs thus :— 
 
 “ The Wran, the Wran, the king of all birds, 
 
 St. Stephen’s Day was caught in the furze ; 
 
 Although he is little, his family’s grate ; 
 
 Stand up, good lady, and give us a trate. 
 
 Drolleen ! drolleen! where’s yer nest ? 
 
 In the bush that I love best, 
 
 In the hollow ivy tree. 
 
 Where all the birds do follow me.” 
 
WEEN. 
 
 97 
 
 I am aware that there are other versions of the Wren 
 Boys’ song; that which I have given is, however, the only 
 one I have heard sung on St. Stephen’s Day. The word 
 “ droeilin,” pronounced di'olyeen, is the Celtic for Wren, 
 and the song begins in the vernacular with the words : 
 “ droeilin, droeilin, ri an t’eum.” 
 
 The origin of this strange custom is by no means certain. 
 Mr. and, Mrs. Hall, in their work on Ireland, tell us that 
 “it is traditionally said that in ‘ the ould ancient times,’ 
 when the native Irish were about to catch their Danish 
 enemies asleep, a Wren perched upon the drum, and woke 
 the slumbering sentinels just in time to save the entire 
 army. Consequently the little bird was proclaimed a 
 traitor, outlawed, and his life declared forfeit whenever he 
 was encountered.” In the Isle of Man a similar onslaught 
 is made on Christmas Day; but in most parts of England 
 the Wren seems to share the sanctity of the robin. Mr. 
 Johns quotes a rhyme common in the west:— 
 
 “ Whoso kills a robin or a Wren 
 Shall never prosper, boy or man 
 
 and a similar couplet from the north : 
 
 “ Malisons, malisons, mair than ten, 
 
 Who harries the Queen of heaven’s Wren.” 
 
 With one more quotation I will conclude this notice of 
 our little friend : 
 
 “ Beside the redbreast’s note, one other strain. 
 
 One summer strain, in wintry days is heard. 
 
 Amid the leafless thorn the merry Wren, 
 
 When icicles hang dripping from the roof, 
 
 Pipes her perennial lay ; even when the flakes 
 Broad as her pinions fall, she lightly flies 
 Athwart the shower, and sings upon the wing.” 
 
 Grahame. 
 
 H 
 
OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 GREAT TIT. 
 
 Pams major; JSUsange Charhonnier; Kohhneise. 
 
 Blackcap ; Oxeye; Tomtit; Sawsharper. 
 
 Bill, black; legs and toes, brown; crown of head, black; 
 sides, white; chin and throat, black, with broad black line 
 down the breast, which is yellowish-green; back, olive- 
 green ; white bar on the wings. Length, six inches. 
 
 Although it is only by a stretch of charity that the tits 
 can be included amongst our Song Birds, still their cheer¬ 
 ful and varied cries are so pleasant to hear, and tend so 
 much to enliven our woods and groves, and even our town 
 gardens, that I think it well to give a brief notice of these 
 very interesting birds. 
 
 The word “tit” is supposed by some to mean “little,” as 
 in titlark; by others to be derived from the Greek, titis, a 
 chirping bird. The word “ mouse is said also to cor¬ 
 respond with the French name mesange; it seems, how¬ 
 ever, most probable that the “ titmousen,^^ as they were 
 formerly called, derived their names from their small size, 
 and their habits when searching for food. It has been 
 truly said of these little birds, that there are none more 
 interesting, and none more useful; the quantity of insects 
 they destroy is almost incredible, and their lively gestures, 
 their wonderful activity, and the amusing postures they 
 assume, have led to their being styled the acrobats and 
 harlequins of the bird-world. 
 
 There are four members of the Paridce common in 
 Ireland—the Great Tit, blue tit, coal tit, and long-tailed 
 tit. As the habits of these different birds are almost 
 
GREAT TIT. 
 
 99 
 
 identical, I sliall first notice the points common to all 
 four, and then briefly describe the song and other pecu¬ 
 liarities of each. 
 
 Insects constitute the staple food of titmice, although 
 at times they seem almost omnivorous, and will eat pears, 
 turnips, apples, and even pick bones. The quantity of 
 insects and caterpillars they destroy is really astonishing. 
 Mr. Weir states that a pair of blue tits fed their young 
 between a quarter past two in the morning and half-past 
 eight in the evening no less than 475 times, each time 
 bringing at least one caterpillar, and sometimes two or 
 three; so that this one pair probably destroyed six or 
 seven hundred in the course of a single day. Were it not 
 for the operations of the tits in searching for and destroy¬ 
 ing the eggs and larvae of destructive insects, our crops 
 and trees would, in many instances, sufier irretrievable 
 injury. If the rooks clear the fields of the larger insects, 
 the tits perform a similar office for the trees and shrubs : 
 nay, more; for, as Mr. Harting remarks, “ The blue tit¬ 
 mouse, pre-eminent amongst its fellows as an insect- 
 destro 3 'er, peeps into the nail holes of our walls, which, 
 though closed by the cobwebs, will not secrete the spider 
 within; it draws out the chrysalis of the cabbage butterfly 
 from the chinks in the barn ; it takes the maggots from 
 the oak-galls, and, according to Mr. Bond, feeds its young 
 very much with the small larvae of the gooseberry-moth, 
 while it also preys on the grubs of w'ood-boring bettles, in¬ 
 cluding Scolytus destructor^ the worst foe of the clan.'’ 
 
 The Great Tit, though larger than the other members of 
 the family, is only about the size of a sparrow, and- is a 
 very common bird in Ireland. It is usually called in this 
 country the Blackcap, a name also given to the reed 
 
100 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS . 
 
 bunting, and the stonechat, as well as to the blackcap 
 warbler. It is often confounded with the smaller coal 
 tit, from which, however, it should readily be distinguished, 
 not only from its superior size, but from the black mark¬ 
 ings which descend in Parus major down the breast and 
 belly, whereas in the coal tit the head alone is black, and 
 besides there is a white patch on the back of the head, 
 which is very conspicuous to the observer. 
 
 The Great Tit is a bold and gallant bird, and his stout 
 beak and strong claws render him a formidable adversary 
 to much larger birds than himself. The story that he 
 attacks little birds, splits their skulls, and feeds upon their 
 brains, always seemed to me to need confirmation ; but 
 Mr. Johns tells a sad tale of a Great Tit, which in a well- 
 filled aviary killed ever}'" occupant with the exception of a 
 quail, which he was just about to kill, when he was inter¬ 
 rupted in his work of wholesale butchery. 
 
 Like the other tits, this bird generally builds in holes 
 in walls or in trees, from which also it has been known 
 to suspend a nest woven from the branches and domed; 
 but occasionally it utilizes an old pump, or the deserted 
 nest of a magpie. It is said also to build among the 
 crevices of the sticks of the rook’s nest, and live there on 
 amicable terms with the proprietor. The eggs, from six to 
 nine in number, are white, speckled with rusty-red. The 
 flight of the Great Tit is stronger than that of any of the 
 others, and the fact that one was met with hundreds of 
 miles from land has been so often recorded as to impress 
 us with the idea that the bird is capable of great efforts if 
 only he chose to make them. 
 
 The voice of the Great Tit is really pleasant to hear, 
 and is welcome as one of the earliest harbingers of coming^ 
 
BLUE TIT. 
 
 101 
 
 spring. It is generally heard very early in January, and 
 sometimes in the most severe weather. By some the word 
 “oxeye"" has been supposed to represent this familiar 
 sound, and hence the name as applied to the bird; but to 
 my mind it is much more akin to the filing or sharpening 
 of a saw. This tit has, however, a varied repertory, so much 
 BO that I have often hoped that I was about to discover 
 some rare bird, when listening to him; for, as has been 
 well remarked, the tits seem to possess the faculty of 
 compounding notes, which they repeat over and over again, 
 and then apparently forget.” Whenever I now hear a 
 note that is strange to me, I put it down to the credit of 
 the Great Tit. The saw-song is perhaps this bird^s most 
 conspicuous effort; he has, however, some sweet and 
 taking notes, including a loud “ tee, tee,” and “ see, see, 
 see, see,” like the blue tit, whilst at times a “ pink ” 
 most suspiciously like the chaffinch’s may be heard. The 
 saw-song is audible at the distance of half a mile. In 
 Spain one of its notes gives it the title of “ Qiii vive ? ” 
 
 BLUE TIT. 
 
 Pams ccemleiis ; Mesange hleue; Blaumeise. 
 
 Tomtit; Bluebonnet; Bluecap ; Nun ; Billy-biter. 
 
 Bill, legs, and toes, bluish-grey; crown of the head and 
 throat, blue; cheeks, white, with blue border; white band 
 over the eyes, beneath it a bluish-black streak; back, 
 olive-green; breast, yellow, with stripe of deep blue down 
 the middle; wings and tail, bluish. Length, four inches 
 and a-half. 
 
102 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 This bird is even more plentiful than the great tit, 
 with whom it is often found in company; it is more 
 frequently seen on the ground and in the roadway, and is, 
 on the whole, more tame and sociable. Its actions are 
 even more lively, if that were possible; and no matter 
 what the weather may he, it seems to he in excellent 
 health and spirits. Wordsworth has well described its 
 actions:— 
 
 “ That giddy sprite, 
 
 Bluecap, who, with his colours bright, 
 
 Hung head pointing towards the ground, 
 
 Fluttered, perched, into a round. 
 
 Bound himself, and then unbound ; 
 
 Lithest, gaudiest harlequin! 
 
 Prettiest tumbler ever seen ! ” 
 
 The notes of the Blue Tit are much less varied than 
 those of the Parus major. His staple remark is “ see, 
 see, see, see,” or “joe-atty, attj", atty,” with occasionally 
 “ chicka, chicka, chee, chee.” The nest is placed in the 
 holes of trees or in posts; there the eggs, usually from five 
 to eight, of a pinkish-white colour, with brown spots, may 
 be found, and the owner ready to defend them at the risk 
 of life itself. Hissing, puffing, and fluttering, “Billy-biter” 
 will drive you from the nest if he can. Mr. Dixon says that 
 he has often started back in alarm, “ fearful that, instead 
 of a nest and eggs, the wall contained some poisonous 
 reptile,” and that “ the bird, even if taken in the hand, 
 will attack you courageously with its beak.” 
 
COAL TIT. 
 
 103 
 
 COAL TIT. 
 
 Farm ater; Misange noire; Kohlmeise. 
 
 Tomtit; Blackcap; Colemouse; Cole Tit. 
 
 Bill, black; legs and claws, lead colour; crown of the 
 head, throat, and front of the neck, black; breast, whitish ; 
 cheeks and nape, white ; back, bluish-grey; wings, the 
 same colour, with two white bands. Length, about four 
 inches and a-half. 
 
 This is by no means so common a bird as the great or the 
 blue tit; it is, however, to be met with in most parts of 
 Ireland. To me it seems to be cast in a gentler mould 
 than the other titmice, the bird next to be described alone 
 excepted. The smaller size of this bird, the want of the 
 black stripe down the breast, with the patch of white on 
 the nape of the neck, should always enable us to distinguish 
 the Coal from the great tit. Its notes, too, are different; 
 they are softer and sweeter than the others; perhaps the 
 most frequent is an “ if hee,” which we often hear. On 
 one occasion, however, I heard a Coal Tit singing really 
 delightfully snatches of a low, sweet song, which I never 
 heard before or since. 
 
 Mr. Dixon thinks that of late years the Coal Titmouse 
 has become much more plentiful than of yore, whilst, on 
 the other hand, the marsh tit is becoming rarer; and this 
 ho explains by the fact that the Coal Tit is a bird of 
 civilization, and the marsh tit a bird of the uncultivated 
 places, which in England are rapidly becoming fewer. I 
 have, however, never met this latter bird in Ireland, where 
 one would imagine that there were plenty of acceptable 
 
104 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 localities, wliilst the Coal Tit can hardly be said to he rare 
 anywhere in Ireland. Mr. Dresser and other naturalists 
 consider the Coal Tit of the British Isles to be distinct from 
 that of the Continent of Europe. Hence the term Parus 
 Britannicus is applied to our bird, instead of Parus ater, 
 which is given to the Continental variety; this latter has a 
 blue back. It has often been remarked that the marsh and 
 Coal Tits are never common in the same place, and a 
 similar statement is made with regard to the stonechat and 
 whinchat. 
 
 The nest of the Coal Tit is placed in a hole, but, accord¬ 
 ing to Mr. Hewitson, nearer the ground than that of any 
 of the other tits. Sometimes it may be found in a mouse- 
 or rat-hole. The eggs, six to eight in number, are, like 
 those of all the other tits, white, with reddish spots. 
 
 LONG-TAILED TIT. 
 
 Acredula caudata; Mesange d longe queue ; Schwarz- 
 meise. 
 
 Bottle Tit; Poke Pudding. 
 
 Bill, legs, and claws, black; head, neck, throat, and 
 breast, white ; black streak over the eye; back, rose-red, 
 with a similar tinge on the sides beneath the wings ; tail, 
 black, save outer feathers, which are whitish. Length, 
 five inches and three-quarters. As the tail, however, is 
 three inches long, the body of the bird is exceedingly 
 ^mall. 
 
LONG-TAILED TIT. 
 
 105 
 
 The song of this bird is the poorest of all the tits ; it is 
 confined to what has been called a “ spluttering note,’^ in 
 addition to the stereotyped see, see, see,^’ of the family 
 of titmice. The bird, however, is a really interesting one, 
 and its nest is the neatest in our island. AVere it not for 
 its long tail, this tit would seem hut little more than a 
 hall of feathers, and would probably escape notice almost 
 altogether; this conspicuous feature, however, at once 
 attracts attention, as the little company moves in single 
 file from tree to tree. These little parties traverse the 
 country in all directions, and may frequently he seen in 
 the environs of Dublin. At the Dargle I have noticed the 
 four different species of tits within an hour in the same 
 trees. The Long-tailed Tit, however, seems to prefer the 
 society of the gold-crest to that of the other titmice with 
 which we should expect to find it associated naturally. 
 
 In severe weather these little birds crowd together at 
 night; hut, according to Mr. Thompson and other ob¬ 
 servers, this is the ordinary habit of the species, and not 
 consequent on the piercing breath of winter; for Mr. 
 Sinclair remarks that he was much entertained by observing 
 a family of about ten or twelve Long-tailed Titmice going 
 to roost in company, when each individual endeavoured to 
 get as near the middle of the group as possible; and that 
 enviable position was no sooner attained by a few than 
 those from the outskirts used all their efforts to insinuate 
 themselves towards the centre, and, foiled in this, next 
 exerted their powers to avoid being placed outside—in all 
 respects just the practice noticed in winter. In the case 
 of a pair kept in confinement, it was noticed that every 
 night the hen crept close to her spouse, and, putting her 
 head lovingly under his wing, slept in peace and security. 
 
106 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The nest of the Long-tailed Tit is considered to be the 
 most beautiful of all British birds, and is constructed by 
 the female alone. It is oval in shape, with a small hole 
 for the bird to enter, and is composed of wool and moss, 
 with a lining of feathers. The eggs are white, speckled 
 with red, and about the size of peas; they are usually ten 
 to twelve in number ; but as many as eighteen have been 
 found in one nest. 
 
 Mr. Dresser believes that the present form of the 
 Long-tailed Tit is confined to the British Isles, and that it 
 never assumes the white head of the Continental form.” 
 A local difference in the case of the English coal tit has 
 been similarly remarked. 
 
 MEADOW PIPIT. 
 
 Anthus pratensis; Pipit far louse ; Pieplerche. 
 
 Titlark; Moss Cheeper; Meadow Lark. 
 
 Bill, dark brown; legs, toes, and claws, light brown ; hind 
 claw as long or longer than the toe ; head, neck, back, and 
 wings, dark brown; breast, whitish, spotted with dark 
 brown ; outer tail feather on each side, white. Length, 
 about six inches. 
 
 The sea-shore and the mountain side are the favourite 
 resorts of this well-known and widely distributed species. 
 In winter, however, it seems common everywhere ; by the 
 road-side, along the river mud, and on the quays, this 
 unassuming and apparently weakly bird finds abundant 
 
MEADOW PIPIT. 
 
 107 
 
 sustenance. In Scotland it is the only bird seen about the 
 lofty summit of Ben Lomond and other high mountains, 
 and I have myself often observed it near the summit of 
 Snowdon. 
 
 Two things cause this bird to appear somewhat weakly 
 to us—its call-note and its flight. The former sounds 
 somewhat like “peep, peep”—hence probably the bird’s 
 name—and its flight is of a peculiarly jerky and wavering, 
 I had almost said hesitating, character. A little flock of 
 Pipits, flitting feebly head to wind, and apparently unde¬ 
 cided where to fly or to alight, always gives one this im¬ 
 pression. At the same time, I am not aware that the bird 
 is at all more delicate than his congeners, and he manages 
 to live and thrive in winters that kill off blackbirds and 
 thrushes by hundreds. 
 
 A favourite resting-place of our little friend is the top 
 rail in some field near the sea, or the telegraph wire, from 
 which he starts off ever and anon to sing his simple and yet 
 pleasing melody. The Meadow Pipit rises only a short 
 distance, probably not more than fifty feet, from the ground, 
 uttering, as he does so, a low “ trit, trit,” or “ chit, chit.” 
 He pauses for a moment at the highest point of his 
 ascent, and then descends with outstretched wings to the 
 ground or to his former lowly perch. .lust as he reaches 
 the ground, he gives utterance to a few really melodious 
 notes, which, however, can generally be but imperfectly 
 heard. The bird is probably not more than one minute in 
 the air; but, with very short intervals, the ascents are 
 repeated over and over again in fine weather. 
 
 The food of this harmless little bird consists of insects 
 and larvae, and in winter he frequents manure heaps and 
 stack yards to seek them. There the Meadow Pipit may 
 
108 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 be always distinguished from the pert sparrows, hopping 
 confidently along, by its humbler running gait. 
 
 The nest of the Meadow Pipit is always on the ground, 
 and generally consists of dry grasses; sometimes it is found 
 in a tuft of reeds, surrounded by water, and there the eggs, 
 usually from four to six in number, of a light reddish- 
 brown colour, mottled with darker brown, are laid. Two 
 broods are probably produced in the year. The cuckoo 
 very often “ selects this bird’s nest for its nursery.” Mr. 
 Yarrell, says : “ The egg of the cuckoo is more frequently 
 deposited and hatched in the nest of the Meadow Pipit 
 than in that of any other bird.” Why we do not know; 
 but wonderful, indeed, is the attachment evinced by the 
 Meadow Pipit for its strange foster-child. “ I know of 
 few things,” says Mr. Stevenson, in his Birch of Norfolk^ 
 “ more ridiculous than the great baby cuckoo helplessly 
 flapping his wings and opening his mouth, as he sits on a 
 bush or railing to receive unnumbered delicacies from the 
 beak of his foster-parent.” 
 
 TEEE PIPIT. 
 
 Anthus arhoreus; Pipit des buissons ; Der Baumpieper; 
 Boompieper (Dutch). 
 
 Titlark. 
 
 Beak, dark brown ; legs and claws, light brown; head, 
 neck, back, and wings, olive-brown ; chin and throat, 
 brownish-white ; breast, yellowish, spotted with brown; 
 hind claw^, curved so as to form fourth part of a circle. 
 Length, over six inches. 
 
THEE PIPIT. 
 
 109 
 
 I feel some hesitation in describing the Tree Pipit as an 
 Irish Song Bird. In the year 1878 I believed that I saw 
 and heard a bird of this species near the railway station, 
 Portmarnock, County Dublin ; and next day, and on several 
 occasions afterwards, I sent out two of our boys to shoot it 
 with an air-gun, being very desirous to make the matter 
 absolutely certain. However, they failed in the attempt. 
 Feeling sure', however, that I was not mistaken, I wrote a 
 short account of the bird for the Zoologist, and shortly 
 afterwards there appeared in the same journal a letter from 
 Mr. II. C. Hart, in wdiich he stated that a nest, with 
 eggs believed to be those of a Tree Pipit, had been found 
 at Kaheny, about three miles from Portmarnock, thirteen 
 years before. A few weeks after this, I saw a Pipit at 
 Milltown Eailway Station rise from the top of a moderately 
 high tree, describe almost a semicircle in the air, and 
 return to another tree directly opposite ; and I pointed it 
 out to a gentleman as a specimen of that very rare bird 
 the Tree Pipit. In this latter case, however, I do not feel 
 as certain as in the former, as whilst the different call-note 
 and the flight from the tree caused me to believe that the 
 bird could not possibly be a meadow pipit, the song did 
 not seem to resemble that of the Tree Pipit. Since 1878 I 
 have sought, but always in vain, for this bird in the locali¬ 
 ties where I believe I noticed it and elsewhere. I feel, 
 therefore, that there must still be some doubt about the 
 matter, as, indeed, there must always be when no specimen 
 can be produced. 
 
 The Tree Pipit greatly resembles the meadow pipit in 
 appearance, but it is a little larger and more slender; it 
 has also a longer tail, and seems to stand higher and 
 more erect; it has not the long hind claw of the 
 
110 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 meadow pipit, which would be unsuited to a perching bird. 
 Its song, too, is much superior, and consists of a few very 
 pleasing notes. Mr. Seebohm says that it concludes with 
 a plaintive “ tsee-a.^^ At other times it utters a curious 
 “ tee-yew, tee-yew,” whilst its call-note is a somewhat 
 loud ‘^tsee, tsee.” In company with my boy, I greatly 
 enjoyed its song near Gloddaeth Woods, Llandudno. 
 
 The Tree Pipit is not gregarious like the meadow pipit, 
 nor is it resident throughout the year. It arrives generally 
 in the second or third week of April, and leaves us again 
 in the autumn. It seems strange that it should do so, 
 when we remember that its close ally, the meadow pipit, 
 remains with us all the year round. The food of this 
 bird consists mostly of insects, although it has been known 
 to feed occasionally upon seeds. 
 
 Its nest is always on the ground, and there the eggs, 
 from four to six in number, are laid; thej^ are usually of a 
 greyish-white, with a purple-brownish tinge. “Amongst 
 our land birds,” Mr. Hewitson remarks, “there is no 
 species the eggs of which present so many or such distinct 
 varieties as those of the Tree Pipit; no one would at first 
 believe them to be eggs of the same species.” 
 
 EOCK PIPIT. 
 
 Anthus ohscurus ; Pipit obscur; Strandpieper. 
 
 Eock Lark; Sea Lark; Dusky Lark ; Shore Pipit. 
 Beak, legs, and claws, brown; head, back, neck, and 
 wings, olive-brown; whitish streak over the eye; throat 
 
EOCK PIPIT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 and breast, yellowish, spotted with brown ; hind claw 
 longer than the toe, and much curved. Length, about six 
 inches and three-quarters. Can be distinguished from the 
 meadow pipit by its larger size, darker plumage, and 
 stronger flight. 
 
 The Rock Pipit is to be found generally along our sea¬ 
 shores, but never ventures inland. The term Shore 
 Pipit has been suggested as that by which this bird should 
 be known; but in Ireland it generally figures, with several 
 other widely different birds, under the convenient title of 
 the Sea Lark. Larger, darker, and stronger than the mea¬ 
 dow pipit, it is still frequently confounded with that bird. 
 It pairs in March, but does not incubate for at least a 
 month later, when its eggs may be found in a hole in a 
 bank, or rabbit burrow near the sea. Mr. Hewitson found 
 it once in a heap of dry sea-weed upon the sandy shore. 
 The eggs are usually from four to six in number, and, like 
 those of the tree pipit, often differ materially in colour, 
 some being of a mottled brown, whilst others are of a 
 greenish-grey. Mr. Watters has observed the nest of this 
 bird on the Island of Rockabill, ten miles from the County 
 Lublin coast, and it no doubt often seeks similarly wild 
 and retired spots to bring up its young. 
 
 The usual cry of this bird is a shrill “ cheepa “hist” 
 is constantly uttered if the nest is near and in danger. I 
 cannot say that I have ever heard its song, which is 
 described as a short, soft warble. My impression was that, 
 whilst in soaring it somewhat resembled the meadow pipit, 
 unlike that bird, it descended in silence. 
 
 I observed not long since a pair of Rock Pipits when 
 disturbed ascend to a great height, and having remained 
 
112 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 aloft for some time, descend rapidly and in silence, almost' 
 to the very spot from which they had been flushed. 
 
 The food of the Kock Pipit consists of small marine 
 insects found amongst the rocks when the tide is low, and 
 also occasionally of seeds. 
 
 SKYLAEK. 
 
 Alauda arvensis: Alouette des champs; Heidelerche. 
 
 Beak, legs, and toes, brown; hind claw, very long and 
 slightly curved ; head, back, and wings, ditferent shades of 
 brown ; a crest can be erected at pleasure; neck and breast, 
 whitish, with brown streaks. Length, seven inches and 
 a-quarter. 
 
 This is one of the best-known and most widely appre¬ 
 ciated of all our Irish Song Birds. For the Skylark shares 
 with the linnet the honour of being “the poor man’s bird.” 
 With the Dublin shoemakers it is an especial favourite, 
 and its cage, with its sod of turf under the bird’s feet, may 
 be seen outside the windows of some of the poorest houses 
 in our city; for, as our carpenter remarks, the shoemakers 
 of Dublin are more “ affable ” with the Skylark than with 
 any other bird. To my mind, however, there is something 
 inexpressibly sad in the caged Skylark’s song. I cannot 
 bear to see the poor prisoner beat his wings and breast 
 against the bars, as he pines for liberty and for the home 
 above which he sang so sweetly in happier days. In an 
 interesting Paper on the Skylark in Poultry, January 2, 
 1884, Dr. W. T. Greene tells us that there are Skylarks 
 
SKYLARK. 
 
 113 
 
 who will neither eat, drink, nor sleep, but who sing them¬ 
 selves to death when caged; and I entirely agree with his con¬ 
 clusions, not only that the bird is one which, of all others, 
 it is the height of cruelty to keep prisoner, but also one whose 
 wonderful song is quite unfitted for a room. Heard, as 
 we usually hear it, from a great distance, and thus mellowed 
 and modulated, the effect is by no means so pleasing if the 
 bird be close beside you. 
 
 The height to which the Skylark ascends is variously 
 estimated at from 1,000 feet to 1,000 yards; the former is 
 the more probable, and the duration of the song, at the 
 most, does not exceed one quarter of an hour, embracing in 
 that short space “ an overture, a fantasia, and a finale.” A 
 writer in the Magazine of Natural History says that 
 “ those acquainted with the song of the Skylark can tell, 
 without looking at it, whether the bird is ascending, or 
 stationary in the air, or on its descent; so different is the 
 style of the song in each case.” As the bird rises, his 
 song is louder and bolder; but descending it is in a quieter 
 and more subdued strain, as it is with ourselves when we 
 are coming down in the world. 
 
 The Lark, like most great songsters, is a good mocking¬ 
 bird, and will often incorporate in his song the notes of 
 other birds around him; in particular, I have frequently 
 heard him reproduce the warning notes of the whitethroat. 
 He sometimes sings on the ground, but not so freely or so 
 blithely as when he chants his joyous melody at “heaven’s 
 gate.” 
 
 The great popularity of the Skylark’s song has been 
 alluded to before ; and, in many cases, the “ poor exile of 
 Erin ” takes a Lark with a sod of Irish earth beneath it, 
 as he goes abroad, so that one day a portion of clay from 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 OUE IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 the old land may cover him, as he lies asleep in his 
 
 narrow house.” 
 
 In that inimitable work of Charles Eeade’s, Never too 
 Late to Mend, the effect of a Skylark^s song in Australia, a 
 great many years ago, is finely described :— 
 
 “ One Sunday, round a small squatter’s house, from 
 thirty to forty rough fellows gathered, some of them 
 diggers, and all of them far from home. They came this 
 Sabbath day to listen, not to a preacher’s voice, but to the 
 well-remembered song of an English Skylark. As he 
 hung in a large cage outside the door, like most singers, 
 he kept them waiting a bit; but at last, just at noon, 
 when the mistress of the house had warranted him to sing, 
 the little feathered exile began, as it were, to tune his 
 pipes. The savage men gathered round the cage that 
 moment, and soon the same sun that had warmed his little 
 heart at home came glaring down on him here, and he 
 gave music back for it, more and more, till at last, amidst 
 breathless silence and glistening eyes of the rough diggers, 
 hanging on his voice, outburst, in that distant land, his 
 English song. It swelled his little throat, and gushed 
 from him with thrilling force and plenty, and every time 
 he checked it to think of its theme, the green meadows, 
 the quiet stealing streams, the clover he first soared from, 
 and the spring he sang so well, a loud sigh from many a 
 rough bosom, many a wild and wicked heart, told how 
 tight the listeners had held their breath to hear; and 
 many a time too, the rugged mouths opened, and so stayed, 
 and the shaggy lips trembled, and more than one drop 
 trickled from fierce, unbridled hearts, down bronzed and 
 rugged cheeks. Dulce domuni! And these rude men, full 
 of oaths^ and strife, and cupidity, had once been English 
 
SKYLARK. 
 
 115 
 
 boys, and strolled about the fields with little sisters and 
 brothers, and heard this very song. The little playmates 
 lay in the churchyard, and they were changed, oh, how 
 sadly! but there was no change in this immortal song. 
 And so for a moment years of vice rolled away like a dark 
 cloud, and the past shone out in the song-shine: those 
 faded pictures of fleeted days; the cottage, the old mother^s 
 tears when he left her without one gi’ain of sorrow; the 
 village church and its simple chimes; the clover field hard 
 by in which he lay and gambolled while the Lark praised 
 God overhead; the chubby playmates that never grew to 
 be wicked; the sweet hours of youth, and innocence, and 
 home.” 
 
 Methinks “Thou didst not leave Thyself without 
 witness,” even there, 0 God! 
 
 The Rev. C. A. Johns quotes the following stanza in 
 French, “ as equally successful in imitating the song of 
 the Skylark, and describing its evolutions ;— 
 
 “ La gentille Alouette, avec son tirelire, 
 
 Tirelire, relire et tirelirant, tire 
 
 Vers la voiite du ciel ; puis son vol en ce lieu 
 
 Vire, et semble nous dire : Adieu, adieu, adieu.” 
 
 The call-note of the Skylark is a rich inward double 
 note, difficult to describe, and this is constantly heard as 
 the birds fly in flocks over the fields in autumn and winter. 
 
 “ Up with the Lark ” is a well-known saying, and some 
 time since, when, with my dear friend, Mr. Samuel Bewley, 
 I kept watch and ward at Sandford Hill, to time the birds 
 at their arising, it was abundantly fulfilled, the great 
 songster descending from his morning song at 2.10 a.m., 
 whilst yet Arcturus, and Wega, and Altair were shining 
 brightly in the sky. 
 
116 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The Lark in singing often erects a crest upon his 
 head, and hence has sometimes been mistaken for the 
 crested lark, Alauda cristata, which is said to have been 
 observed in this country, and which is common on the 
 Continent, where I have seen it dusting itself on the roads 
 after the manner of our own Skylark. 
 
 The colour of the Larks is decidedly protective, harmon¬ 
 izing so well with its surroundings that the bird will 
 sometimes rise almost from under one’s feet without having 
 been previously perceived. The Skylark never perches on 
 trees or in hedges; it may occasionally be seen upon a rail, 
 but the air and the earth are emphatically its abiding 
 places. The protective instinct of the Skylark, before 
 alluded to, is also strikingly manifested by the fact, that it 
 never alights close to its nest after singing, but at some 
 distance from it, reaching it on foot. 
 
 The nest is, as everyone knows, always on the ground. 
 
 “ Thou, simple bird, dwellest in a home 
 The humblest; yet thy morning song ascends 
 Nearest to heaven.” 
 
 The rut of a cart-wheel, or any slight hollow or depression, 
 is often availed of; and there a simple structure of grasses 
 and fibrous roots is made to contain the five greyish or 
 brownish eggs the hen Skylark calls her own. 
 
 May we all, when our time comes, 
 
 “ Mount upward, lark-like, from the sod, 
 
 And join, O happy souls, the harmonies of God ! ” 
 
 Mackay. 
 
WOODLARK. 
 
 117 
 
 WOODLAKK. 
 
 Alauda arhorea; Alouette lulu; Baumlerche. 
 
 Billj legs, and claws, brownish; head, neck, and back, 
 dark brown; feathers on the head sometimes form a crest; 
 pale yellowish streak over the eye; throat and breast, pale 
 brown; tail, short; hind clav/ straight, and half again as 
 long as the toe. Length, about six inches and a-half. 
 
 I have never seen this bird alive but once, and that on 
 board the mail steamer midway between Holyhead and 
 Kingstown. The little voyager was apparently fatigued, 
 and took advantage of the “ Ulster’s ” capacious bridge 
 and deck for a brief resting-place before resuming his 
 flight. It is said to have occurred at Ovoca, and once at 
 Donnybrook; at the former place, indeed, Mr. Lamprey 
 reports that it has been frequently heard singing; and Dr. 
 Burkitt has noticed it in the neighbourhood of Waterford. 
 For my own part, I have never been so fortunate, although 
 for many years I have been anxious to hear this charming 
 songster. Mr. Thompson states that in Antrim and Down 
 it only frequents districts where the soil is warm and the 
 country well wooded and cultivated; in such localities the 
 Woodlark may be heard singing, chiefly in the morning, 
 from September until June. 
 
 The Woodlark sings either perched on a tree or hovering 
 in the air. Mr. Selby states that it remains for an hour on 
 the wing; but Bechstein asserts that it is often for hours in 
 the air. The ascent is made in circles, and not in spirals, 
 like that of the skylark, nor does the Woodlark mount so 
 high, although it remains much longer aloft. 
 
 The nest, we are told, is the centre of the circles the 
 
118 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Woodlark describes, warbling all the while its sweet, soft 
 song, which, more continuous than the skylark’s, has all 
 the richness of the blackcap’s. The French name, lulu, is 
 supposed to resemble the most frequently recurring syl¬ 
 lables in this song, which, uttered, as it is sometimes, in the 
 stillness of the night, whilst the bird unseen floats high 
 above the earth, sounds almost like heavenly music. 
 
 The Woodlark may readily be distinguished from the 
 skylark by its smaller size, short tail, white stripe over the 
 eye, and by the white spots at the end of the tail feathers. 
 The food of this most interesting bird is composed chiefly 
 of insects and small seeds. Its nest is built upon the 
 ground, beneath some bush or tuft of grass. The eggs 
 are four or five in number, of a whitish hue, streaked with 
 dark brown. 
 
 SNOW BUNTING. 
 
 Plectrophanes nivalis; Bruant de neige; Schneeammer. 
 
 Snowflake; Tawny Bunting; Mountain Bunting. 
 
 Beak, yellow; legs and claws, black ; head, neck, and 
 portion of the wings, white; under surface of the body, 
 white, tinged with reddish-brown; tail, reddish-brown, 
 interspersed with white; hind claw, straight and long. 
 Length, under seven inches. 
 
 The song bird of the Arctic regions is a winter visitor to 
 our shores, but both in England and in Ireland decreases 
 in numbers as we approach the south. It usually arrives 
 
SNOW BUNTING. 
 
 119 
 
 towards the end of October, and leaves again for the north 
 about the third week in March. In the neighbourhood of 
 Dublin its favourite resort for many years has been the 
 road leading to the Pigeon-House Fort; I have seen flocks 
 there frequently, but not for the last two or three years; it 
 may be that the increased traffic from the number of houses 
 recently built on the roadside has driven it farther away ; 
 it was also said to frequent the West Pier at Kingstown. 
 
 The Snow Bunting does not breed in this country, nor 
 does it sing; it is, notwithstanding, a most interesting 
 bird; and there are few prettier sights than a flock of 
 Snow Buntings overhead uttering their wild and pleasant 
 chirp, and displaying their beautifully variegated plumage, 
 then wheeling suddenly round before they Alight. As w^e 
 examine them through a field-glass, the plumage of any 
 two seems hardly the same. Some retain much of the 
 summer dress of virgin white; others display the brownish 
 colour, which has given the bird its name of the Tawny 
 Bunting, whilst the remainder seem midway between the 
 two; in all cases, however, the white markings on the tail 
 and wings are very conspicuous. 
 
 Their flight has been compared to that of a butterfly, 
 and I think justly; but in some respects it resembles that 
 of the yellow-hammer, and their call-note is not unlike 
 his, but in a gayer and more twittering strain ; I have no 
 doubt that by many they are taken for flocks of chaffinches, 
 as are probably the bramblings also when they sometimes 
 appear on our roads in winter. Mr, Macgillivray saw both 
 old and young birds together on the Grampian Hills in 
 August, 1830. He saw a male on Ben Muicdhui, the 
 second highest mountain in Scotland, on the 4th of that 
 month; it may probably, therefore, breed in some of these 
 
120 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 elevated and little frequented districts. Captain Feilden 
 found a Snow Bunting’s nest in Grinnell Land, 82® 33' 
 N., containing four eggs, and lined with the feathers of 
 a snowy owl, whose nest was not twenty feet away. And 
 Linnasus tells us that it is the only living animal that has 
 been seen 2,000 feet above the line of perpetual snow in 
 the Lapland Alps. 
 
 My last sight of this pretty and most interesting bird 
 was at Newcastle railway station, County Wicklow, on 18th 
 February, 1885, when I saw a flock of about ten on the 
 sea-shore, exhibiting that variety of plumage to which I 
 have referred. 
 
 The eggs are said to be reddish-white, with brownish 
 spots. 
 
 EEED BUNTING. 
 
 Emheriza schoeniclus; Bruant des roseaux; Rohrammer. 
 
 Beed Sparrow; Blackcap; Chink; Black-headed Bunting; 
 Water Sparrow. 
 
 Beak, legs, and claws, brown; head, throat, gorget, and 
 ear coverts, black, with white collar beneath; back and 
 wing coverts, black; breast and under-wing coverts, 
 yellowish-white ; tail, slightly forked. The female has 
 reddish-brown on the head, where the male has black, and 
 the white collar is less distinct. Length, six inches. 
 
 If the corn bunting has but little song, the Keed Bunt¬ 
 ing has even less. I have never heard more from it than 
 
EEED BUNTING. 
 
 121 
 
 a monotonous “ sherrip/' as Meyer calls it—a chirp of two 
 notes, twice pronounced, and followed by a somewhat more 
 rapid and sharper “ chirp, chirp,” the bird sitting in the 
 same position for a long time—a habit often noticed in its 
 brethren, the corn and yellow huntings. Although the 
 Reed Bunting is so indifferent a songster, he gets credit 
 frequently for the performance of the sedge warbler, whose 
 varied song may be heard, as he hides low down in the 
 sedges, whilst the Bunting overhead is supposed to be the 
 songster. 
 
 Writing to one of the papers some time since about the 
 rare occurrence of the blackcap in Ireland, a correspondent 
 next day stated that it was quite common on the banks 
 of the Barrow, and that he had often listened to its 
 delightful song. His blackcap, however, was the Reed 
 Bunting, and what he imagined to be its song was really 
 that of the unsuspected sedge warbler. 
 
 The Reed Bunting is, however, a very handsome and 
 elegant bird ; its black head and white collar have a pleas¬ 
 ing appearance as it flits about amongst the reeds, and 
 even its monotonous song is not unpleasurable to the lover 
 of Nature. 
 
 The bird can hardly be said to be plentiful. When a 
 boy I constantly observed it at the Kilbarry marshes, near 
 the city of Waterford; lately I have seen it at Portmarnock 
 and Mulhuddart, and on the river banks at Dundalk ; but 
 it is by no means common anywhere. In winter it may 
 sometimes be seen with chaffinches, greenfinches, &c., in 
 the stable-yard, or with wagtails in the sheep-folds seeking 
 warmth and food. In happier times the Reed Bunting 
 lives on insects, larvae, and the seeds of aquatic plants. 
 From what has been said it is evident that this elegant 
 
122 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 and unobtrusive bird is not commonly known, indifferent 
 observers often confounding it with the stonechat or even 
 the sparrow, whilst others with as little reason dignify it 
 with the title of blackcap, and “ Irish nightingale.” 
 
 The nest is generally placed on the ground in some 
 marshy situation, and is composed of grasses, fragments of 
 rushes, &c. The eggs, four or five in number, are pale 
 brown, with purple spots and tracings. The male bird 
 shares the task of incubation with the female. 
 
 BUNTING. 
 
 Emberiza miliaria ; Bruant jproyer; Grau ammer. 
 
 Common Bunting; Briar Bunting ; Lark Bunting ; Corn 
 Bunting; Bush Lark. 
 
 Bill, legs, and claws, brown; head, neck, back, and tail, 
 light brown, with dark strokes; chin, throat, and breast, 
 whitish-brown, with dusky spots; tail, dark brown, and 
 slightly forked. Length, seven inches and a-half. 
 
 It is only by a stretch of charity that the Common 
 Bunting, or rather the Corn Bunting—for it is by no means 
 so plentiful as the yellow bunting—can be included among 
 our Song Birds. Still it certainly does possess what is 
 evidently intended for a song, and which, as is usually the 
 case, it reserves for the breeding season. 
 
 It is easy to observe a large brown, heavy-looking bird, 
 something like a lark, but much stouter, sitting sometimes 
 for hours on a twig, and uttering from time to time a 
 
BUNTING. 
 
 123 
 
 harsh, guttural song; this is our friend the Corn Bunting. 
 Scare him away, and he will fly oflf heavily and yet strongly, 
 with his legs dangling down in a curious fashion, somewhat 
 reminding us of the heron when on the wing. To me the 
 song sounds something like the syllables, “ Tic, tic, wissa, 
 wissa, wissee,” different birds laying the accent in difierent 
 places. The call-note sounds like “ tzit ” or “ tsips.” 
 
 Mr. Thompson’s observations of this bird in Ireland 
 correspond with those of Gilbert White, who says that “ in 
 our woodland districts it is a rare bird it is rather a 
 denizen of the open fields, and of the bare arable land, and 
 is sometimes found in the vicinity of large potato gardens. 
 I was surprised to hear it singing not long since at the 
 North Lotts, close to the North Wall, Dublin, and not far 
 from the starting-place of the Holyhead steamers. Poor 
 though the song of the Bunting undoubtedly is, to my 
 mind it is always suggestive of the country, its peace and 
 quiet, as opposed to the hurry and turmoil of city life; and 
 thus it is to me a pleasant sound. 
 
 The Bunting is a grain-eating bird. Mr. Thompson 
 has, however, also found in its stomach the seeds of weeds, 
 in addition to which were fragments of stone ; insects and 
 laiwje are also eaten when procurable. The Bunting has 
 much of the lark about it, and often roosts on the ground 
 in stubble fields; it does not, however, run, but hops. It 
 apparently produces but one brood in the year. 
 
 The nest is alv/ays on or very near the ground, and is 
 lined with hair. The eggs, four or five in number, are of 
 a dull white ground, with dark purple spots and streaks. 
 
124 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 YELLOW BUNTING. 
 
 Emberiza cltrinella; Bruant Jaune ; Goldammer. 
 
 Yellow Hammer; Yellow Yoldriiig; Yellow Yorling; 
 
 Writing Lark. 
 
 Beak, horn colour ; legs and claws, brown; head, neck, 
 and breast, bright lemon-yellow; back and wings, reddish- 
 brown, with dark patches ; tail coverts, yellow; central 
 tail feathers, short and black. The colours of the female 
 are much duller, and reddish-brown predominates. Length, 
 six inches and a-half. 
 
 If this were not one of our most common birds, it would 
 be thought one of our most beautiful; almost as plentiful, 
 however, as the sparrow or chaffinch, it is for this reason 
 held in slender estimation. 
 
 Mr. Stevenson, in his Birds of Norfolk, says : Though 
 resident with us at all seasons, the Yellow Bunting seems 
 more particularly associated with the recollection of heat 
 and dust, its long-drawn, weary song accords so well with 
 the dry, scorching atmosphere; and through a strange ven- 
 triloquial power, possessed by this bird in an eminent 
 degree, its notes are heard from a distance as though 
 close to the ear of the listener, and when apparently 
 farthest off, are not unfrequently uttered within a few 
 yards.” 
 
 Meyer, in his British Birds, speaks of the Yellow 
 Bunting as an unrivalled ventriloquist, and mentions an 
 instance in which the note of a bird caged in a room 
 was supposed to be the answering song of a bird in the 
 garden outside, even by those close to the cage. He tells 
 
YELLOW BUNTING. 
 
 125 
 
 a pleasant story of this same Yellow Hammer and a young 
 cuckoo, which is well worth recounting. 
 
 “ The cuckoo was fully fledged, and old enough to sit upon 
 the perch. It w^as at first very shy, and although con¬ 
 stantly crying for food, would not take anything that was 
 offered to it, and appeared entirely incapable of feeding 
 itself. We tried many devices, such as fastening a bird’s 
 skin with wings extended upon a quill, and then putting a 
 piece of meat upon the point of the quill, which was made 
 to project beyond the beak of the bird. This stratagem, 
 which is sometimes successful with young birds that will 
 not open their mouths to a human nurse, succeeded, and 
 our cuckoo was now quite willing to open its mouth 
 oftener than we were willing to be at the trouble of waiting 
 upon it. One morning when we were tired of supplying 
 the insatiable voracity of this never-satisfied bird, and had 
 suffered it to cry for food for some little time without 
 attending to it, we heard it utter, on a sudden, an extraor¬ 
 dinary gobbling note of satisfaction; and on looking up 
 hastily, saw it in the act, as w'e thought, of devouring the 
 Yellow Bunting, whose small golden head was already 
 entirely within the red cavernous jaws of the cuckoo. The 
 head, however, emerged in safety, and the little bird then 
 picked up a piece of meat and returned to the cuckoo. 
 Again the golden head disappeared in the cavern, and 
 again the gobbling note was repeated. It was now evident 
 that the wonderful instinct of the little bird was roused by 
 the hungry cries of the young monster, and that it was 
 busily employed in supplying it with food. Our task was, 
 therefore, at an end, and we continued to admire for 
 several weeks the unremitting attentions of the admirable 
 little creature to its adopted child. AYe had reason also 
 
126 
 
 OUB IBISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 to admire its instinctive choice of the food most desirable 
 for its nursling. The cage was supplied with various 
 sorts to suit the several tastes of its inhabitants, such as 
 seeds, crumbs of bread, German paste, and meat. The 
 latter only was selected by the Bunting, although himself 
 a seed-eater, as the most proper sustenance for a nestling 
 cuckoo. The young bird appeared to entertain a grateful, 
 or at least a conscious sense of the attentions of its little 
 friend, in as far as it always addressed its supplication for 
 food to it alone, never descending from its perch to supply 
 itself, unless the irresistible temptation of a hairy cater¬ 
 pillar was offered, on which occasion its laziness was so 
 far overcome, that it would hastily descend, and seize it 
 with great avidity.” 
 
 The song of the Yellow Bunting is decidedly monoto¬ 
 nous, yet still I think of a plaintive and, to my ear at 
 least, a pleasing character. It consists of a few short 
 syllables, followed by a long note in a lower key, and not 
 unlike the words: ‘‘A little bit of bread and no cheese.” 
 This last long-drawn syllable is frequently omitted, perhaps 
 from laziness, or, as has been suggested, by the approach of 
 another male Yellow Hammer, whom the songster hastens 
 to encounter. I have several times heard Yellow Hammers 
 with curiously varied songs, and on one occasion followed 
 one for a long distance on the Great Orme’s Head, imagin¬ 
 ing that it was some other variety of Bunting. 
 
 Mr. Watters is of opinion that the Yellow Hammer 
 selects three in the afternoon as the most suitable time 
 for the exercise of its vocal powers; for, no matter how 
 situated, he says “ that it will then commence its change¬ 
 less and interminable chant.^^ Perhaps the fashionable 
 bird-world may then be abroad, and our little friend is 
 
CHAFFINCH. 
 
 127 
 
 desirous of calling attention to his powers as an afternoon 
 vocalist. 
 
 The call-note of the Yellow Bunting somewhat resembles 
 the word “ gick,’^ and is one of the commonest bird-sounds 
 in winter, not only in the country, but along the quays and 
 in the streets of our cities, where these birds may be seen in 
 small flocks mingling with sparrows and chaffinches, &c., in 
 search of food. The nest of the Yellow Bunting is most 
 frequently found in furze, but often on a bank or upon the 
 ground ; it is usually lined with hair, and in it the hen 
 lays four or five eggs of a purplish-white colour, wdth spots 
 of a dark reddish-brown. The name “ Writing Lark ” is 
 sometimes given to this bird, “ from the hair-like markings 
 on the eggs, as if drawn by a pen.” 
 
 CHAFFINCH. 
 
 Fringilla ccelehs; Pinson ordinaire; Buchjink. 
 
 Beechfinch; Horsefinch; Pink; Shilfa. 
 
 Bill, bluish ; legs and claws, brown; crown of the head 
 and nape, dark bluish-grey; back, chestnut; chin, throat, 
 and breast, reddish-brown ; wdngs, black, with white bands; 
 tail, black, but middle feathers grey. The female is with¬ 
 out the reddish-brown on the breast, and the head and 
 nape are brown, not blue. Length, six inches. 
 
 I am inclined to think that the Chaffinch is the most 
 common bird in Ireland. In the towns, indeed, the sparrows 
 may be more numerous ; but once they are left behind, 
 Chaffinches seem to constitute two out of every three birds 
 
128 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 we meet; and very handsome birds they are ; were they 
 more rare, they would doubtless be prized. But as men 
 who are constantly seen in places of public resort are but 
 little thought of, no matter what their qualifications may 
 he, so too is it with birds; the more seldom seen, the more 
 they are thought of, whilst those we meet with every day 
 are but lightly esteemed. 
 
 Very early in the year the Chaffinch’s spring greeting 
 may be heard; but he puts his song gradually together, 
 rehearsing the opening syllables first, and then waiting for 
 several days, or even more, till, in more promising weather, 
 he sings his spring song with all its finish and vivacity. 
 We do not think very much of his song or himself in 
 Ireland; but in other countries he is highly appreciated. 
 In England, for instance, Mr. Frank Buckland, in his 
 Notes on Gilbert White’s Selborne, tells us that “ poor 
 Spitalfield weavers will give £3 or ^4 each for a good 
 Chaffinch; that the birds are sung in matches from £1 to 
 £5, and that many bird-fanciers will come for miles to 
 hear a Chaffinch. Two birds are put up at a time in 
 separate cages to sing a match; fifteen minutes is the 
 time allowed for the singing match, and the bird who does 
 the greatest number of complete songs in that time be¬ 
 comes the winner. It is said that three Chaffinches, at 
 Tournay, sang 1118 times in an hour, the winner having 
 420 songs to his credit! In London the greater portion 
 of these finches are “ sighted,^^ or as they call it “done;” 
 the corner of the eye is slightly touched with a red-hot 
 needle, in order that the bird, not discerning night from 
 day, may sing the more. A sad song truly, and distressing 
 to the ears of every compassionate man. 
 
 Some think that a Chaffinch’s song may thus be put 
 
CHAFFINCH. 
 
 129 
 
 into words:—Ring, ring, rattle, chuck wido; ” others 
 “Ring, ring, rattle. Jack White.” Sonae, too, will have it 
 end with “sister dear;” and I think that this latter is the 
 most frequent termination. Although I have heard birds 
 with a different ending, and some with a double trill, 
 which is much admired, yet I believe that most London 
 dealers prefer the “ chuck-wido ” birds. In Germany, 
 where they say, “ a Chaffinch is worth a cow,” we hear 
 of (1) the double trill of the Hartz ; (2) the wine song; 
 (3) the rider’s song ; and others. The wine song is thus 
 written down :— 
 
 “Fritz, Fritz, Fritz, willst du mit zum Wein gehen ? ” 
 
 And the bridegroom’s song is— 
 
 “ Fink, Fink, Fink, Fink, willst du denn mit dem BriLutigani 
 zieren 1 ” 
 
 Birds which add to their song a “pink” at the close are 
 very highly prized ; the bird-fanciers call this the “Amen.” 
 I have heard, I think, but one “Amen Chaffinch” in 
 Ireland. 
 
 Bechstein, however, tells us that the song of the wild 
 Chaffinches in England far exceeds that of the cage birds 
 in Germany. The well-known call-note of the Chaffinch 
 “pink, pink,” or, as the Germans think, “ fink, fink,” 
 is said to be the origin of our English word “finch.” 
 It may be heard all the year round, and is uttered both by 
 cock and hen ; but another note, “ wheet, wheet,” proceeds 
 from the male bird alone, and is heard only in the breeding 
 season. 
 
 Chaffinches are said to “record” for about four weeks, 
 gradually putting the song together; but promising vocalists 
 have sufficient practice in a week or fortnight. 
 
 K 
 
180 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The term ccelebs (the Bachelor ”) was applied to the 
 Chaffinch by Linnaeus, from the fact that the males alone 
 remain in Sweden during the winter, the females migrat¬ 
 ing further south, through Holland into Italy. Gilbert 
 White’s observations confirm this curious fact; he says 
 that, of large flocks in the fields at Christmas, at least fifty 
 to one were females, which had apparently arrived from 
 more northern countries. Mr. Morris, too, says that in 
 Worcestershire the cocks formed flocks for themselves. 
 In this country, however, the separation of the sexes seems 
 only to apply to the migratory Chaffinches, for we usually 
 see cock and hen together all through the winter. 
 
 The Chaffinch’s nest is justly considered one of the most 
 perfect of all our small birds, and Mr. Dixon says that 
 more time is taken to build it than any other nest, save 
 that of the long-tailed titmouse. A fortnight elapses 
 before it is ready to receive its precious deposit, and then 
 the eggs, four or five in number, are laid, oval in form, 
 and of a dull bluish-green colour, spotted, and sometimes 
 streaked with dull red or brown. The nest, walled in 
 green, is decked also with gems of white ; if no lichen can 
 be procured, white paper is made to serve as a substitute. 
 An old apple-tree is a favourite spot, and there I have seen 
 the nest some four feet from the ground, and exposed to 
 every passer by the garden walk. The hen only sits, and 
 she is fed by the cock, who sits close by to cheer her with 
 his animating song. Speaking of the nest of the Chaf¬ 
 finch, Mr. Hewitson says: “No one whose heart is touched 
 by the beauties of nature can have examined that exquisite 
 structure without uttering some exclamation of wonder and 
 delight, and without comparing it with all that is most 
 admirable in art and of man’s invention.” To which I will 
 
BRIMBLING. 
 
 131 
 
 add, kind Christians, postpone your investigations until the 
 young birds are reared and flown, nor break up that sweet 
 and happy home by taking their only treasure from the 
 patient architects and watchers w'ho are so often at your 
 mercy. 
 
 BRAMBLING. 
 
 Frlngilla 7 nontifringilla; Grosbec d’Ardennes; Bergfinh. 
 
 Mountain Finch. 
 
 Bill, in winter, yellowish-white, in summer, lead-colour; 
 legs and toes, light brown ; head, cheeks, nape, and upper 
 part of the back, black, tipped in winter with light brown ; 
 head and neck, in summer, velvet-black; chin, throat, and 
 breast, fawn-colour; wings, black, variegated with brown 
 and white; upper tail coverts, white; tail, black and forked. 
 Length, six inches and a-half. 
 
 The Brambling is but little known in Ireland, and I do 
 not think that I have ever met with it in its wild state. 
 In appearance it somewhat resembles the chaffinch; the 
 white tail coverts are, however, a distinguishing mark. 
 Mr. More describes it as an “ irregular winter visitor, 
 chiefly occurring in the North of Ireland, and in hard 
 weather.^’ 
 
 The Brambling, or Mountain Finch, is, like the snow 
 bunting, an Arctic bird, but is not by any means as 
 common in Ireland. It is said to breed in Denmark, 
 Norway, and Lapland ; there is no record, however, of this 
 bird having bred in Great Britain, except in confinement, 
 
132 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 and I believe that the young ones were not reared in these 
 cases by their parents. It usually arrives in November, 
 and leaves again for the north in March. Mr. Gray says 
 that “ it arrives during the night on the east coast of 
 England, and is often observed, shortly after daylight, 
 flitting among the rocks on the sea-shore, evidently in a 
 somewhat exhausted plight after its long flight; at such 
 times it may be almost taken with the hand. It appears 
 at first to betake itself to the higher grounds ; but after a 
 time, especially on the approach of snow, it descends to 
 low-lying farms, where it becomes a familiar tenant of the 
 stack-yard, mixing with chaffinches and yellow-hammers.” 
 
 The Kev. George Eobinson, of Tanderagee, informed 
 Mr. Thompson that on the 25th of March, 1844, he saw a 
 flock of some thousands, unmixed, so far as he observed, 
 with any other species, in a beech wood at Elm Park, 
 County Armagh. I imagined that in January of the 
 present year I saw a bird of this species, near the new 
 harbour, Ballygeary, County Wexford; but of this I cannot 
 be perfectly sure. I was attracted by the call-note, which 
 was new to me, and saw a bird with a black head at some 
 little distance. I was, however, unable to approach suffi¬ 
 ciently near to identify it. The call-note is said to be a 
 chirp resembling the syllable “tweet,” or “ tuit,” as it 
 appeared to me; it has also another note sounding some¬ 
 thing like “chip-a-way others think that its call-note 
 sounds like “ziv, zir,” with a “zh” of the greenfinch 
 pattern. 
 
 The nest is placed in lofty trees, and the eggs, four or 
 five in number, are yellowish-white, with dark red spots. 
 
HAWFINCH. 
 
 133 
 
 HAWFINCH. 
 
 Coccothraustes vulgaris; Le Grosbec; Kirschnacker. 
 
 The Grosbeak. 
 
 Bill, pale blue, and very thick; legs and claws, brown; 
 bead, cheeks, and nape, fawn-colour; plumage at the base 
 of bill, and reaching to the eye, black; chin and throat, 
 black; back, reddish-brown; wings, black; wing coverts, 
 white; tail, short, outside feathers black, centre feathers, 
 white and brown. Length, seven inches. 
 
 I have never seen or heard this bird, although I have 
 very frequently heard of it as occurring at times in the 
 Phmnix Park, and with every recurring winter have sought 
 for it there, but hitherto in vain. Mr. Watters states that 
 on two occasions only he was fortunate enough to observe 
 it, “on one at the Scalp, near Dublin, in 1848; and on 
 the other at the Phcenix Park, in 1852. In both localities 
 the food was similar, the berry of the hawthorn; this 
 seemed in all cases to be taken sideways with the beak, and 
 broken with the same movement that forced it from the 
 stem, and this, too, with the greatest apparent ease. This 
 feat, when we recollect the amount of exertion required to 
 break those berries by ourselves, affords a very good idea 
 of the immense strength of the mandibles.^^ 
 
 Mr. Thompson quotes from an interesting paper on the 
 Birds of Donegal, by Mr. J. V. Stewart, in which he gives 
 the following account of two of these birds, which he killed 
 and examined anatomically. The communication is dated 
 from Ards House, December 4th, 1828. 
 
 “ I shot a pair of these birds a few days ago in fine 
 
134 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 plumage—the first instance, I believe, of their occurring in 
 Ireland. Their strength of beak, as compared with the 
 size of the bird, is quite wonderful; it results from very 
 strong and large muscles, which, extending on either side 
 from the eye to the occiput (hind head), reach from the 
 lower mandible to the top of the cranium, where they 
 meet; they are separated from the eyes by deep bony 
 ridges, to which they are firmly attached. By contracting 
 these muscles, which are thus so firmly attached to the 
 skull, it exerts such a force as enables it to crack, with its 
 hard and strong bill, the thick stone of the hawthorn berry— 
 an operation requiring a strong exertion of the human jaw. 
 A few hours after they were dead, I took a strong pair of 
 scissors and a knife, using them as levers, to force open 
 their bills, and found the muscle had so firmly contracted, 
 that to effect my purpose I had to use a wedge, a forcible 
 proof, it will be allowed, of their strength. Their bills 
 alone, however, are formed as a pair of nutcrackers, as the 
 muscles of the neck, unlike those of the woodpecker’s, are 
 not strong. Not so with the wings, which are furnished 
 with such strong muscles that they could almost vie with 
 the pigeon in strength and rapidity of flight.” 
 
 Like most showy birds, the Hawfinch is shy and skulk¬ 
 ing, and usually difficult of approach. His flight is undu¬ 
 lating, and at times rapid, whilst his song is said to 
 consist of “ four simple wdiistles in an ascending scale, the 
 last two long drawn out, with a ‘ click ^ on the wing some¬ 
 thing like ‘ bpt,’ or the greenfinch’s ^ zh.’ ” The song 
 has been compared by others to that of the bullfinch. 
 
 I hope that some of my readers will scour the hawthorn 
 woods in the Phoenix Park for this interesting bird, and 
 acquaint me with the result of their investigations. 
 
GREENFINCH. 
 
 135 
 
 The eggs of the Hawfinch are said to differ from those 
 of all the other British finches. “ They vary from four to 
 six, and are of a pale olive-green, spotted with black, and 
 streaked with dusky grey.” The nest is found in trees or 
 bushes, and is said to resemble “ the ringdove’s flat plat¬ 
 form of a nest.” Mr. Dobbleday has discovered that the 
 Hawfinch breeds regularly in Epping Forest, and Mr. 
 Stevenson says that it is on the increase in Norfolk. 
 
 GEEENFINCH. 
 
 Coccothraustes chloris; Verdin ordinaire ; Griinfink. 
 
 Green Linnet; Green Grosbeak. 
 
 Bill, flesh-colour; legs, pale brown; all the plumage, 
 green, variegated with yellow, which is remarkably light in 
 individuals; sides and middle tail feathers, greyish; tail, 
 forked. Length, about six inches. 
 
 The Green Linnet, as it is usually called in Ireland, is 
 one of our most common and least valued birds. In 
 St. Patrick’s Close I have seen little urchins come into the 
 dealer’s shop, and heard them say, “ Please, sir, a penny 
 bird ;” then from a long box, filled with crowding, huddling 
 finches, one will be extracted, popped into a small paper 
 bag, and borne off in triumph, for what fate I am glad not 
 to inquire. Along the roads and hedgerows in spring and 
 summer, and in the streets and on the quays in winter, we 
 may constantly notice the hardy and sociable Greenfinch— 
 “hail, fellow, well met’’—with the chaffinch, the yellow 
 bunting, and other kindred spirits. 
 
136 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The form of the Greenfinch is stout, and somewhat 
 heavy; hut the plumage is sometimes very bright and 
 beautiful, the 'yellow in the wings and tail showing con¬ 
 spicuously as the bird flies before the observer: on the 
 other hand, very dingy and battered birds are often seen 
 in our cities, some of them hardly distinguishable from a 
 hen sparrow, after the smoke and grime of their surround¬ 
 ings. I cannot say much for the song of the Greenfinch ; 
 it may be heard in April, and consists of one dominant 
 note, syllabled by Meyer as ^‘tw^ay,’^by Seebohm as “zh,” 
 and by others as “a, ee,’^ long drawn out, together with a 
 few twitterings, reminding one somewhat of an “ inferior 
 canary another plaintive note is heard later in the season, 
 which also much resembles one of that favourite cage-bird. 
 
 In summer the Greenfinch is a sociable bird, and five or 
 six cocks may be heard pouring forth their song high up 
 in the same tree; two nests have also been found in a 
 similar position upon the same branch. I have also 
 noticed here a curious habit of the Greenfinch, to which 
 Mr. Watters and other writers refer ; it sometimes in the 
 breeding season flies from its perch with a heavy, flapping 
 wing, uttering its song all the while, and, making a circuit, 
 returns to the vicinity of its starting-point again, reminding 
 one something of the W'ay in which a cock pigeon will fly 
 off with a loud, clapping noise from the roof-top, when he 
 wishes to make a good impression upon the lady of his 
 choice. 
 
 The Greenfinch is said to be the most readily tamed of 
 all our songsters; after a few lessons it will sit upon its 
 owner’s finger, and readily take its food from his hand. 
 The term Coccothraustes, “ berry-breaker,^’ or perhaps 
 ‘‘ grain-crusher,” has been given to this bird and to the 
 
GREENFINCH. 
 
 137 
 
 hawfinch alone of our British birds, from their strength of 
 bill and the use they make of it, confined, in the case of 
 the Greenfinch, mainly to the husking of the seeds upon 
 which it feeds. 
 
 The Greenfinch builds a pretty nest; according to Mr. 
 Seebohm, “ slovenliness is the secret of its beauty ; it is 
 found in ivy, in a bush, laurel or evergreen, and in it the 
 eggs are laid, usually five in number, of a greyish- or 
 bluish-white, speckled with purple or brown. It is said 
 that some hybrids of this bird with the common linnet may 
 occasionally be seen wild, and we know that in confinement 
 it is frequently mated with the canary. 
 
 As a proof of the tameness, or rather “tamableness,” of 
 the Greenfinch, to which I have previously alluded, I may 
 mention Mr. Thompson’s narrative of certain young Green¬ 
 finches taken at Fort William, near Belfast, kept for some 
 little time, and then given their liberty. “ In the evening 
 they as regularly returned to their cage to roost, as in a 
 wild state they would have done to their favourite tree or 
 shrub.” 
 
 A careful observer of birds tells us that on one occasion 
 he was silently watching a nest of young Greenfinches, 
 when the old bird perched near, and the young set up a 
 great chirping. 
 
 “ Hitherto,” he says, “ I had been quite concealed from 
 the old bird ; but the wind moving the ivy leaves, her eye 
 and mine met, and the same moment she uttered a quick 
 note, which was scarcely uttered before all the chirping 
 instantly ceased, the young ones perfectly understanding 
 the sign.” 
 
 An example of quick and intelligent obedience worthy of 
 imitation in our own domestic circles. Who can read it 
 and not think kindly of the pretty Greenfinch ? 
 
138 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 GOLDFINCH. 
 
 Carduelis elegans; Groshec chardonneret; Disteljink. 
 
 Thistle-fincli; Draw-water. 
 
 Bill, white, with black tip ; back of the head and nape, 
 black ; forehead and throat, crimson-red ; wings, variegated 
 with black, white, and brilliant yellow; tail, black, with 
 white oval spots, and slightly forked. Length, five inches. 
 
 This, one of the most beautiful of our Irish birds, is, 
 I fear, becoming one of the rarest; in some counties, 
 indeed, it seems to be almost extinct. In Dublin, for 
 instance, we usually see it only in a cage, and even in the 
 County Meath, where at one time it was very plentiful, it 
 is now rapidly becoming scarce. 
 
 The “ twit, twit,” of the Goldfinch is perhaps its charac¬ 
 teristic note, uttered on the wing as “ twit, tuit-it,” or 
 “ tzitlit,” sometimes “ eaglet.” It has a blithe and pleasing 
 sound ; but the song is, on the whole, much inferior to that 
 of many of our other song birds. On one occasion, how¬ 
 ever, I heard two Goldfinches singing most delightfully on 
 the road leading to Llanfaes from Beaumaris; rising into the 
 air, fetching a short compass, and returning to the top of 
 the trees again, they seemed to sing in rivalry, and more 
 sweetly than I had imagined possible. 
 
 Grahame, in his Birds of Scotland, has well described 
 our little favourite :— 
 
 “ But mark the pretty bird himself, how light 
 And quiet his every motion, every note ! 
 
 How beautiful his plumes ; his red-tinged head ; 
 
 His breast of brown 1 And see him stretch his wings ; 
 
GOLDFINCH. 
 
 139 
 
 A fairy fan of golden spokes it seems. 
 
 Oft on a thistle’s tuft he, whistling, sits 
 
 Light as the down ; then, ’midst a flight of downs, 
 
 He wings his way, piping his shrillest call,” 
 
 It is a pretty sight to see the Goldfinches at work in a 
 thistle field, climbing up the stems and hanging out of them 
 whilst they tear the thistles to pieces, and scatter the down 
 abroad as they seize upon the seeds. Their food consists, 
 however, of many other seeds besides these, such as dan¬ 
 delion, hemp, groundsel, &c.; to this latter seed, however, 
 the linnet seems more attached than the Goldfinch. Larvae 
 and various insects are mainly used in feeding their 
 young. 
 
 In Norfolk, and in some other parts of England, the 
 Goldfinch is usually called “ the Draw-water,^^ from the fact 
 that, when tamed, it is often taught to draw up its drink¬ 
 ing-water in a little bucket. As a reward, according to 
 Mr. Watters, it is permitted to contemplate itself in a 
 looking-glass attached to the back of the cage. 
 
 The Goldfinch’s nest is a really beautiful structure, 
 consisting of grasses, moss, and lichens, interwoven with 
 wool and hair, and is often found in the fork of an apple- 
 tree, and sometimes in a bush or evergreen. The eggs, 
 four or five in number, are of a bluish-white grey, with 
 purple and brown spots. 
 
140 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 SISKIN. 
 
 Carduelis spinus; Groshec tarin; Zeisigfink. 
 
 Aberdevine. 
 
 Bill, in summer, orange-brown; legs and toes, pale 
 brown; crown, black; behind the eye, a yellow streak ; 
 chin and throat, black ; breast, yellowish; wings, dusky, 
 with yellow transverse bar; tail, dusky; base, greenish- 
 yellow. Length, four and a-half inches. 
 
 This pretty and interesting little bird is by no means 
 common in Ireland. It “ occurs principally as a winter 
 visitor ; but the nest has been found in Antrim, Wicklow, 
 and Waterford.^^ I never met with the bird except in 
 winter until last year (1885), when my accomplished 
 friend. Miss Massy, identified it with a bird whose song 
 was unknown to me, but which I heard singing on the 
 18th June, not far from Powerscourt Waterfall. Mr. 
 Thompson tells us that in 1847-8, Siskins appeared at 
 Ranelagh, County Dublin, in December, and remained 
 until April. I have never, however, seen any here of late 
 years. 
 
 The song has been written down as “ dididlidlideiaah,” 
 and I have endeavoured to make out those syllables in it. To 
 me, however, it seems rather to have a “ creaking ” sound, 
 accompanied by a pleasant twittering, as, in little parties, 
 the birds flit about the alder trees, their favourite resting- 
 place. 
 
 The Siskin is said to be the only bird which will pair 
 with both sexes of the canary, and the song of the hybrids 
 is much prized by fanciers. The nest is found in trees 
 not far from the ground, and the eggs are pale white, 
 spotted with purple, 
 
REDPOLL. 
 
 141 
 
 REDPOLL. 
 
 Linota rufescens ; Sizerin boreal; Bergzeisig. 
 
 Lesser Redpoll. 
 
 Bill, legs, and claws, brown ; bead, neck, back, and 
 wing coverts, brown ; chin, black; forehead and breast, 
 vermilion, and in summer the crown of the head also; 
 abdomen, whitish; tail, brownish, and somewhat forked. 
 Length, four inches and one-quarter. 
 
 This is one of the smallest birds in the country, being 
 somewhat less that five inches in length; it is, however, 
 very elegantly shaped, and is such a pleasant, lively little 
 creature, as to make it quite a favourite with bird-keepers. 
 It is not uncommon about Dublin, although by no means 
 as numerous as the linnet—the Greater Redpoll, as he is 
 sometimes called. In winter it is, however, more rare, 
 although occasionally met with in flocks which frequent 
 groves of birch and alder trees, where the habits of this 
 graceful and fearless little bird may be readily observed. 
 In the North of Ireland, Mr. Thompson tells us this bird 
 is usually called “thorn-grey,” to distinguish it from the 
 linnet, which is styled “ whin-grey,” and the twite, whose 
 local name is “ heather-grey ; ” and there it is often found, 
 in company with the grey linnet, along the sea-shore in 
 winter. 
 
 The food of these little birds consists principally of seeds. 
 To those of the alder they are especially partial ; in many 
 respects their attitudes as they seek for food remind us of 
 their agile brethren the titmice, in whose company they 
 may sometimes be found. Audubon says of them : “ Few 
 
142 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 birds display a more affectionate disposition than the little 
 Eedpoll^ and it was pleasing to see several on a twig 
 feeding each other by passing a seed from bill to bill, one 
 individual sometimes receiving from his two neighbours at 
 the same time.^’ 
 
 I cannot say much for the song of this bird; to me it 
 seems but a pleasant twittering. As it flies, however, it 
 utters the usual linnet call-note, chottuck, chottuck ; ” or, 
 as the London bird-catchers write it, “ tollick, tollick,” 
 to which it usually adds a prolonged “ chee.” Another note 
 frequently uttered gives it the name “ Henri.” In some 
 parts of France, it has also been interpreted as “ me-ik; ” 
 but the “ chottuck, chottuck, chee,” is, in my humble 
 judgment, its most characteristic performance. The flight 
 is strong and light, and the bird wheels round with great 
 rapidity in the air, and seems to dart down from the 
 clouds into the topmost branches of a tree. 
 
 Mr. Johns is of opinion that the habits of the Redpoll 
 and the siskin are almost identical; that their haunts and 
 their habits are so much alike that a description of either 
 bird would serve equally well for the other, colour alone 
 excepted. I am not well acquainted with the habits of the 
 siskin, a most rare bird in most parts of the country. It 
 seems to me, however, not to be as strong on the wing 
 nor as lively a bird as the merry, confiding little Redpoll. 
 
 The nest of the Redpoll is placed in bushes or in trees, 
 such as the willow and the alder, and is made of dry grass, 
 moss, or weeds, “ with down from the catkin of the willow 
 as lining.” The eggs, four or five in number, are a bluish- 
 or greenish-white, with spots of reddish-brown. 
 
LINNET. 
 
 143 
 
 LINNET. 
 
 Linota cannahina; Groshec linotte ; Blutfink. 
 
 Gray Linnet; Brown Linnet; Eose Linnet; Lintie ; 
 
 Greater Eedpoll; Whin-grey; Thorn-grey. 
 
 Bill, greyish; head, legs, and claws, brown ; forehead 
 and breast, crimson; back, wings, and upper tail coverts, 
 chestnut brown ; abdomen, whitish ; tail, black, and some¬ 
 what forked. The crimson plumage is only worn in the 
 spring and summer; in autumn and winter it is replaced 
 by different shades of brown. Length, five inches. 
 
 This is one of the most common Irish birds, and, in the 
 opinion of many, deserves to rank first amongst our native 
 songsters. With the lark it shares the distinction of being 
 “ the poor man’s bird,” and is very frequently seen in the 
 poor man’s window or hung just over his door. In winter 
 and in the early spring linnets are to be found in large 
 flocks, and the bird-catcher may be seen busily at work with 
 bis clap-net, and call-bird often tied by the leg, and able 
 just to flutter for a short distance from his perch. In a 
 field near Baldoyle great numbers are taken. I was told 
 that nine dozen were captured “ in one clap of the net,” 
 and that at least 1,100 linnets had been made prisoners in 
 the season. It struck me as very remarkable that the birds, 
 when disturbed, only flew off for a very short distance, and 
 then returned again to the call-bird and the net, like moths 
 to a candle. In many cases bird-lime is in requisition, and 
 I have seen the twigs lined on the Herbert Eoad from Bray 
 to Enniskerry, and the bird-catchers going round plucking 
 
144 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 the birds like plums from a tree. During the breeding 
 season the birds are, in a measure, protected by the Wild 
 Birds Act; but when it has expired, what Mr. Watters calls 
 “the bird-lime battue” is commenced upon the young 
 birds or “ brancbers,” as they are sometimes styled. 
 
 The various names given to the Linnet are all descrip¬ 
 tive of the same bird, but in different stages of plumage, 
 and at different seasons of the year. In bis nuptial dress 
 the forehead and head are of a beautiful crimson hue; but 
 this fades in autumn into a dark brown. The female is 
 always clad in more sober hues. 
 
 The food of the Linnet consists of seeds of various 
 kinds, hence its scientific name, from linum, flax, and can¬ 
 nabis, hemp ; the thistle, the dandelion, and the chick- 
 weed also supply it with food ; whilst in winter it lives and 
 thrives upon berries of ivy, holly, and the mountain ash. 
 It is a most serviceable bird to the farmer, destroying both 
 insects and weeds. 
 
 The borders of the sea-shore are a favourite camping 
 ground for Linnets ; there they feed on the dandelion and 
 other seeds. Thus they are very plentiful along the sea-shore 
 from Dublin to Malahide, and also on the east coast of Eng¬ 
 land, during the summer, from July, haunting the sandhills, 
 or, as they are called there, “denes ” or “ links.” The well- 
 known “ Happy Vallej'^,” near Llandudno, is a favourite 
 assembling place ; and I have often turned away from the 
 strains of the band to listen to the sweet, wild song of the 
 many Linnets to be found there. A friend in Achill Island, 
 writing to Mr. Watters, says: “ Many times I have been 
 sitting by the heath-side on the hills of Achill, when the 
 entire bosom of the Atlantic appeared one molten sheet of 
 silver prismed with the rainbow reflections of the setting 
 
LINNET. 
 
 14 ^ 
 
 sun, and suddenly heard, breaking the solemn silence of the 
 place, fifty or a hundred Linnets singing in one united 
 chorus a burst of seraphic melody. The shadow of the 
 sea-eagle floating homeward to his eyiue never disturbed 
 them; but their minstrelsy rung out heart-thrilling until 
 the sun had left but a broad glare on the horizon. 
 
 The call-note of the Linnet sounds to me much like the 
 word “ chottuc,” quickly pronounced, to which it adds 
 occasionally a wild, rich note as it flies. 
 
 Mr. Frank Buckland, in his very interesting Notes on 
 White’s Selborne, gives the following as the London bird- 
 catchers^ version of the Linnet^s song:— 
 
 ‘ ‘ Hepe, hepe, hepe, hepe, 
 
 Tollaky, tollaky, quakey, wheet, 
 
 Heep, pipe, chow. 
 
 Keep, tollaky, quakey, wheet, 
 
 Lug, orcher, wheet.” 
 
 “ The toy Linnet is a bird that has been taught to sing 
 by the titlark, w'oodlark, or yellow-hammer, and only a 
 very few take the perfect song. Perfect toy Linnets are 
 said to be worth any sum of money you like to ask. £15 
 to T20 would be readily given for a good one; it is said, 
 however, that there is not a perfect bird in London at 
 present. I fear that our Irish fanciers, although quite as 
 enthusiastic as their English brethren, would be hardly 
 justified by the state of their exchequer in venturing to 
 pay such a price even for a “ perfectbird, were it to be 
 found. 
 
 The Linnet s nest is lined with wool, and is usually in 
 a bush or tree not far from the ground. The eggs, four or 
 five in number, are of a bluish-grey colour, speckled with 
 red or purple-brown. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 BULLFINCH. 
 
 Pyrrhula Europcea; Bouvreuil Commun; Rothgimpel. 
 
 Hoop ; Bed Hoop ; Nope. 
 
 Bill, black and very thick; legs and claws, brown; 
 crown of the head and chin, glossy black ; nape of the 
 neck, back, and lesser wing coverts, bluish-grey; lower 
 part of back, white, and very conspicuous when the bird is 
 on the wing; throat, breast, and abdomen, red; greater 
 wing coverts, black, with white ends forming a bar ; rest of 
 the wing and tail, black. Length, over six inches. 
 
 This very handsome bird is rapidly becoming scarce in 
 Ireland, although still, I think, much more plentiful than 
 the goldfinch. It may be seen in various localities about 
 Dublin; in particular, I have hardly ever passed along the 
 wood from Finglas to Mulhuddart without noticing a pair 
 or two of Bullfinches flitting along before me. I have 
 never heard this bird sing; but I am told that it sings in a 
 low and plaintive strain. The call-note, “ hoop, hoop, 
 hoop,” I have, however, often heard, and it has frequently 
 revealed the presence of the bird, which I had not suspected 
 before. It was remarked by an acute observer, in the case 
 of a pair of Bullfinches wending their way along a green 
 lane, with the cock somewhat in advance, that their call- 
 note was never heard unless the distance between the two 
 birds was more than about twenty yards, the male bird 
 then deeming it necessary to let the female know exactly 
 where he was. In confinement the Bullfinch may be taught 
 
LINNET. 
 
 147 
 
 to whistle, and sometimes even to repeat a short sentence; 
 the latter feat is, however, somewhat rare. 
 
 The Bullfinch is a very conspicuous bird on the wing; 
 the white upper tail coverts, which remind us somewhat of 
 the wheatear, enable us to identify him at once. The fine 
 velvet black on the head, and the light red on the breast, 
 render him one of our handsomest native birds. 
 
 The Bullfinch does, perhaps, more injury to the garden 
 than any other of our Irish Song Birds; his partiality for the 
 buds of cherries and plums is very great; at the same time, 
 it must be remembered that this is only for a short time in 
 the year, as the young birds are fed almost entirely upon 
 insects, and, in autumn and winter, berries of various kinds 
 are their chief food. Mr. Harting, in pleading for the 
 Bullfinch, says : “ Those who wish for a good show of fruit 
 must drive away the Bullfinch from the buds ; not, as some 
 thoughtless gardeners do, with a charge of shot, which 
 strips off more buds in a second than a Bullfinch could pick 
 off in an hour, but by means of scarecrows and nets and 
 frequent visits to the trees. In this way you may save 
 your fruit from the destroyer, and still hear his pleasing 
 song,” 
 
 Instances of what are called melanism frequently occur 
 in the Bullfinch when in confinement; birds fed on hemp- 
 seed are especially liable to become black. Mr. Thompson 
 mentions an amusing instance of this in his Natural His¬ 
 tory of Ireland. He says : “ Many years ago, at Edenderry, 
 near Belfast, where a pair of Bullfinches had been for some 
 time kept, the male died, and the female, whose grief for 
 his loss was very evident, soon afterwards moulted and 
 assumed a full garb of black. Such, being considered 
 equivalent to the widow’s ‘ weeds,’ was looked upon as 
 
148 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 almost supernatural, and more particularly so when, after 
 a year of mourning, she, at moulting time, threw them 
 partially off, and exhibited some w'hite feathers in her 
 wings.” 
 
 The nest of the Bullfinch is lined with wool and hair, 
 and is generally placed in a hedge or bush at some height 
 from the ground. The eggs, usually five in number, are 
 of a greenish-blue, streaked and spotted with red and 
 purple. 
 
 STARLING. 
 
 Sturnus vulgaris; VEtourneau vulgaire; Gemeiner staar. 
 
 The Stars. 
 
 Bill, yellow; feet, flesh-colour; plumage, black, with 
 metallic purple, green, and bronze reflections; each feather 
 tipped with brownish-white; tail, short. Length, about 
 nine inches. 
 
 Who does not know the Starling, or the Stare, as he is 
 so frequently called ? Who has not heard him in the tall 
 e m-tree, or on the chimney-top, wheezing, screaming, 
 singing, piping, turning his head restlessly all the while, 
 as if expecting a sudden descent from the sky of some 
 unknown prodigy of nature? Who has not seen him 
 “ swimming” across the open, and envied the lightness and 
 fleetness of that free wing of his ? Well-known indeed he 
 is everywhere, and everywhere at home, from the North 
 Cape to the Cape of Good Hope, from Siberia to China 
 
STARLING. 
 
 149 
 
 and Japan, from Iceland to the Canaries, from the Shetland 
 Isles to Cornwall. A country bird and a city bird, a London 
 bird and a Dublin bird, his pleasing shape and his wonder¬ 
 ful voice make him one of the most familiar of all wild 
 birds. 
 
 Has the Starling any song properly his own, or are the 
 strange and yet occasionally tuneful sounds we hear his 
 attempts, more or less successful, to imitate other sounds 
 and voices around him ? This is a question which may 
 admit of debate; but that he is indeed the ^‘mocking-bird” 
 of the British Isles, and that he seems anxious always to 
 reproduce, as well as he can, the various sounds of animal 
 life around him, are facts which admit of no denial. I 
 was much struck with this in the case of Starlings who 
 built in the lofty elm-tree near our house. A call of three 
 sharp whistles, used only by my boy and myself, was taken 
 up and reproduced by these feathered listeners with such 
 fidelity as to lead me to mistake their imitation for the 
 well-known summons. Meyer compares the ordinary call- 
 note to the word “ staar,” from which the bird takes its 
 name. When a great number of birds get together, the 
 effect of their piercing cries, interspersed with softer and 
 more melodious sounds, is grotesquely pleasing. 
 
 The wonderful aerial evolutions performed by flocks of 
 Starlings have been always a source of pleasure to the 
 observer. At one time they resemble a huge net, or balloon 
 suspended in the air; at another, separating into small 
 parties, they quickly reunite, like a well-trained army, in 
 one dense mass, and sweep gracefully forward or alight 
 chattering in the tops of the trees. 
 
 The most wonderful assemblage of Starlings I have ever 
 seen was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in the city of Dublin, 
 
150 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 on Tuesday, 19th January, 1886. My kind friend. Rev. 
 Sterling Tomlinson, Dean’s Vicar, had told me that a great 
 gathering of Starlings congregated every evening at the 
 Cathedral, and then went to roost under the eaves of 
 Marsh's Library, in the Close; and in response to his 
 invitation, at about four o’clock in the evening before 
 mentioned, I arrived just as the early groups of Starlings 
 were arriving too. From about four o’clock to half-past 
 four, parties of birds were heaving in sight, and from every 
 quarter, some high up in the air, others lower down, some 
 in groups of six or eight, others of fifteen or twenty, until 
 at last the top of the long roof and the minarets of the 
 Cathedral were black with Starlings. Then in a moment 
 they rose into the air, and dived down on the lower roof of 
 the Library; for a second or two they rested in the long 
 spouts, and then disappeared under the eaves in silence, 
 leaving not one behind. Mr. Tomlinson estimates the 
 number, after repeated observations, at about two thousand, 
 and he has witnessed this curious and enlivening spectacle 
 for almost three months. 
 
 Bishop Stanley has admirably described the movements 
 of a large flock of Starlings as follows :— 
 
 “ At first they might be seen advancing high in the air 
 like a dark cloud, wLich in an instant, as if by magic, 
 became almost invisible, the whole body, by some myste¬ 
 rious watchword or signal, changing their course, and pre¬ 
 senting their wings to view edgeways, instead of exposing, 
 as before, their full expanded spread. Again, in another 
 moment, the cloud might be seen descending in a graceful 
 sweep, so as almost to brush the earth as they glanced 
 along. Then once more they were seen spiring in wide 
 circles on high, till at length, with one simultaneous rush,_ 
 
STARLING. 
 
 151 
 
 down they glide, with a roaring noise of wing, till the vast 
 mass buried itself unseen, but not unheard, amidst a bed 
 of reeds projecting from the bank adjacent to the wood; for 
 no sooner were they perched than every throat seemed to 
 open itself, forming one incessant confusion of tongues. If 
 nothing disturbed them, there they would most likely 
 remain; but if a stone was thrown, a shout raised, or, more 
 especially, if a gun was fired, up again would rise the mass, 
 with one unbroken rushing sound, as if the whole body 
 were possessed of but one wing to bear them on their 
 upward fiight.^^ 
 
 The Starling is almost omnivorous, its food embracing 
 insects, worms, snails, seeds, grain, and fruits; in winter 
 the birds frequent the sea-shore to obtain their share of 
 marine insects, in quest of which they may be seen busily 
 turning over the stones. Their nests may be found in the 
 most widely different sites—holes in trees, high cliffs, spires, 
 ruins, church steeples, pigeon-houses, nay, sometimes, it is 
 said, occupying a portion of a magpie’s nest. The eggs, 
 four to six in number, are of a greenish-blue. 
 
 The “ metallic^' plumage of the Starling, purple, green, 
 and bronze, distinguishes it from all other European birds; 
 but the young are of a greyish-brown colour until the first 
 autumnal month, and thus have often been considered a 
 distinct variety, and described under the title of the 
 “ solitary thrush.” Albinos, and partial albinos, are 
 sometimes met with, but not, I think, more frequently 
 than amongst blackbirds and some other varieties of smaller 
 birds. That very beautiful bird, the rose-coloured pastor, 
 is really a Starling, and closely resembles our familiar 
 friend in its flight, its voice, and its general course of 
 procedure. 
 
152 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 SWALLOW. 
 
 Hirundo rustica; Hwondelle de Cheminee ; Schwalbe. 
 
 Barn Swallow; Chimney Swallow. 
 
 Bill and tail, black, the latter much forked ; crown, 
 neck, and nape, glossy dark blue; forehead and throat, 
 chestnut, with bluish-black bar underneath ; lower parts of 
 plumage, reddish-white. Length, under nine inches. 
 
 Although the pretty, cheerful Swallow, a prime favourite 
 with everybody, is not usually ranked amongst the Song 
 Birds, still there are few who have not admired his lively, 
 pleasing song. I thought it therefore desirable to give him 
 and his nocturnal brother, the nightjar, a place in this 
 little work; and my resolve has been approved by such high 
 authorities as Mr. A. G-. More and Mr. Kathborne, of 
 Dunsinea. 
 
 The Swallow, as everyone knows, is a migratory bird ; 
 he spends half his time with us, and the other half in 
 equatorial regions, for he has no winter in his year.^’ 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, all can boast of his presence ; in 
 this latter country a few remain at the oases all the year 
 round. In America, however, his place is taken by the 
 purple martin. In Ireland the Swallow is more plentiful 
 than either the house or the sand martin; but the latter 
 bird generally makes his appearance a little earlier in the 
 year. In England the usual date of the Swallow’s arrival 
 is about the 15th of April; in Ireland it is generally seen 
 much about the same time. Mr. Thompson mentions the 
 30th of March as the earliest date of its appearance near 
 Belfast; the middle of April, however, seems to be the 
 time at which it may be reasonably expected. 
 
SWALLOW. 
 
 153 
 
 Mr. Harting, in his Summer Migrants, quotes a very 
 interesting table of the mean date of arrival of the birds of 
 the Swallow tribe, as prepared by Mr. Forster, and sub¬ 
 mitted by him to the Linnaean Society; it will be found 
 in the Appendix to this book. 
 
 Another account thus deals with the arrivals of this 
 species:—Spain, February; Malta, March; Italy, March 31; 
 Black Sea, April; Palestine, middle of March; North of 
 France and Belgium, April 5 to 15; South of Sweden, 
 22nd April to first week in May; the Dovrefjeld, 1st June. 
 It may be seen from these lists that the bird may be 
 confidently expected here on or before the 15th April in 
 ordinary years. 
 
 The well-known note of the SwMlow is said to sound 
 very much like the word “tweet,” uttered in a quick and 
 neculiarly lively manner; but, in addition to this, it has a 
 
 ft and most pleasing warble, consisting of several rich 
 notes, and one that reminds us strongly of a passage in 
 the song of the wren. This attractive warbling song is 
 littered as the bird is on the wing, and sometimes when at 
 rest; to my mind it breathes a peculiar cheerfulness, 
 coupled with gentleness and untiring energy, and is in 
 these particulars almost unique amongst our familiar bird 
 songs. 
 
 The return of the Swallow tribe to their old haunts has 
 often been remarked; birds carefully marked having been 
 found several years running in or near the old nesting-place. 
 How many thousand miles the bird must have traversed in 
 the meantime it is not easy even to conjecture; as regards 
 migration alone, the distance would be 5,000 miles annually, 
 at the least, to which should be added each day’s aerial 
 >0} aging, the bird often sixteen hours on the wing in the 
 
154 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 long days, at a speed of—shall we say?—60 miles an hour. 
 Wonderful indeed is this velocity, and yet it is much 
 below that of the swift, which is believed at times to attain 
 a rate of speed almost twice as great; yet more wonderful 
 still is that unerring instinct given by the great Creator 
 which enables these and other migratory birds to return 
 periodically, not only to the same country, but to the same 
 town, the same street, and the same well-known nesting- 
 place, year after year. “ Yea, the stork in the heaven 
 knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle, and the 
 crane, and the Swallow [swift] observe the time of their 
 coming; but my people know not the judgment of the 
 Lord.” (Jer. viii. 7.) 
 
 The Swallow and the house martin have been noticed as 
 inhabiting opposite sides of the same country road or 
 street, in their hunting, or rather hawking, grounds ; they 
 also are careful not to poach on one another’s preserves. 
 Whilst the swifts are in this country, I seldom fail to see a 
 few hawking over Elm Park; and I noticed last year that 
 when they left in August, their places were taken by 
 Swallows, which had previously seldom, if ever, appeared. 
 
 The swift may be distinguished from the Swallow by its 
 universal dark colour, as also by the great size of its wings, 
 its more rapid flight, and its loud, screaming voice. The 
 Swallow may be known from the house martin by its steel- 
 blue colour, and chestnut throat and forehead; the house 
 martin also displays a very conspicuous white patch near 
 the tail as he flies. The sand martin is smaller than either, 
 of a grey-brownish colour, its under plumage being of a 
 dirty white. All the Swallows have forked tails. 
 
 In White’s Selborne, with Buckland’s Notes—a book 
 which should be in every library—much information is 
 
SWALLOW. 
 
 155 
 
 given about the Swallow, its drinking and washing whilst 
 flying, its feeding its young on the wing, its supposed 
 rivalry with the swift, and many other interesting topics. 
 He mentions also the fact that it acts as excubitor or 
 sentinel to other birds in announcing the approach of the 
 hawk and other birds of prey. As soon as a hawk appears, 
 with a shrill, alarming note, he calls all the Swallows and 
 martins about him, who pursue in a body, and buffet and 
 strike their enemy till they have driven him from the 
 village, darting down from above on his back, and rising 
 in a perpendicular line in perfect security. This bird will 
 also sound the alarm, and strike at cats when they climb 
 on the roofs of houses, or otherwise approach the nests. 
 
 On one point alone does “ good old White,” as he has 
 been happily termed, differ from ornithologists of the day. 
 He believed that it was possible that some Swallows might 
 hibernate instead of migrating, and remain in holes in trees 
 or banks in a torpid state, till the spring sun called them, 
 like the insects, to life and activity again. This was 
 indeed a very ancient belief, expressed in the familiar 
 lines— 
 
 ‘ ‘ The bat, the bee, the butterfly, 
 
 The cuckoo, and the Swallow, 
 
 The corncrake, and the nightingale. 
 
 They all sleep in the hollow.” 
 
 Even the great Linnaeus seems to have held the same 
 opinion, as also Bishop Stanley and many others. In the 
 Zoologist for 1845, Mr. Holme, of Oxford, writes:—“ On 
 the hibernation of this species [the house swallow], I was 
 told many years since by old Wall, then keeper of the 
 Kildare Street Museum, in Dublin, that after a heavy snow 
 
156 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 in the winter of 1825-26, on going into the Museum to see 
 whether the snow had melted through, he found four 
 Chimney Swallows perched close together on a cross-beam, 
 with their heads under their wings; hut on approaching 
 his hand to them, they flew off, and escaped into the open 
 air.” Mr. Gosse, too, holds the opinion “ that a few,*Jor 
 some reason or other, evade the task of a southward 
 flight, and remain, becoming torpid, occasionally betrayed 
 into a temporary activity, and resuming their active life, 
 about the same time, or a little before the time, of the 
 arrival of their congeners from abroad.” I must confess 
 that my humble belief in the matter is entirely in accord 
 with that of Mr. Johns, who was of opinion, that although 
 torpidity was out of the question, it was probable that some 
 few stragglers remained after the great body had migrated, 
 to survive until the following spring if the winter proved a 
 mild one ; if otherwise, however, only quickly to perish, 
 from lack of food and warmth. 
 
 The attachment of the birds to the neighbourhood of 
 water at roosting-time, led to the belief that Swallows 
 retired under the water of ponds and streams for the 
 winter, from which they had but just emerged when seen 
 skimming close to the surface in the early spring. The 
 height at which Swallows fly is generally believed to be a 
 good weather forecast; this arises from the fact that the 
 insects upon which they feed fly low in damp, cloudy 
 weather, but mount up higher when the air is dry and 
 clear. 
 
 The food of the Swallow, as well as of the swift and 
 martins, consists^of insects. Dr. Jenner is of opinion that, 
 on their first arrival, and for some time afterwards, they 
 feed mainly upon gnats, but that their favourite food is a 
 
SWALLOW. 
 
 157 
 
 small beetle, which has been found, on dissection, in great 
 abundance in their stomachs. Mr. Harting states that they 
 sometimes take honey-bees, as related by Virgil, and that 
 the sand martin has been observed to prey upon the 
 common wasp. 
 
 The nest of the Swallow has been described as “ a ring 
 of mud, lined with dry grass and a few feathers,^^ a mud- 
 made shell or cup; this is shallow, and always open, and 
 hence the sitting Swallow, unlike the house martin, is 
 always exposed to view. The eggs, four to six in number, 
 are pure white, with brown or grey markings. The sitting 
 bird is fed by its mate. 
 
 There are many questions about the Swallow tribe which 
 still await a satisfactory answer; one is, Why is the swift, 
 the most powerful of the five birds of this species, the last 
 to arrive, and the first to depart ? Another, Why does the 
 sand martin usually outstrip its more powerful congener 
 the Swallow ? A third. Whither do the early arrivals we 
 sometimes note retire when winter, or something very like 
 it, returns for a few days, and the birds are at once missed 
 from their accustomed place ? For other interesting topics 
 in connection with this most interesting bird, its arrival, 
 and its departure in great multitudes from our shores, I 
 would refer my readers to Mr. Harting’s suggestive work 
 on Oitr Summer Migrants, to which I have often turned 
 for information wuthin the past few years. 
 
158 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 NIGHTJAR. 
 
 Caprimulgus Europaus; Engoulevent ordinaire ; 
 
 Nachtschivalbe; Tagschldfer. 
 
 Fern Owl; Churn Owl; Goat-sucker ; Dor Hawk. 
 
 Bill, legs, and claws, brown ; middle claw “ pectinated,” 
 or “ comb-like; ” plumage, generally a greyisb-brown, deli¬ 
 cately traced and shaded ; white spots on the wings of the 
 male. Length, about ten inches and a-half. 
 
 The Nightjar is to my mind one of the most interesting 
 birds in the country. Few, indeed, save the ornithologist, 
 are aware of its presence ; and hardly anyone could imagine 
 without some information on the subject, that the strange, 
 weird sound which often breaks the stillness of the sum¬ 
 mer night in different parts of the country, was really the 
 voice of a bird. The Nightjar is one of the latest of our 
 summer migrants ; he arrives usually about the 1st of 
 May, and leaves us again about the end of September. 
 The month of July is, however, the month to hear him 
 to perfection, and nearly all my experiences of the bird 
 were acquired by me then. There are several peculiari¬ 
 ties about the Nightjar which make it very interesting to 
 the lover of birds; amongst these, I may speak briefly of 
 its remarkable voice, its plumage, its “pectinated” claw, 
 and its mode of perching on the branch of a tree. I hope 
 that in the near future my readers may be led to see, and 
 hear, and judge for themselves as regards these matters. 
 
 The Nightjar is closely allied to the swifts, and just as 
 they are retiring to rest, after a long day’s chase of insects, 
 
NIGHTJAR. 
 
 159 
 
 he appears on the scene, full of life and vigour, and pre¬ 
 pared for a good night’s work. As the twilight begins to 
 fade, we may see a hawk-like bird dart quickly forth, and, 
 describing a wide circle, return to the fern-covered rock or 
 thicket from which he came; “for the bracken is to the 
 Nightjar what the heather is to the red grouse.’^ As he 
 rests, we hear that strange cry, which, once heard, can 
 never be forgotten; at one time apparently quite close by, 
 at another dying away into the far distance; after a few 
 seconds it ceases, and then, quick as thought, we may see 
 the bird pass above our heads, and vanish in the evening 
 gloom, uttering, as he flies, a note, “ co-ic, co-ic,” for the 
 “ wheel-song ” is heard only wdren the bird is at rest. 
 
 At the China Kock, near Beaumaris, I have often 
 watched this bird; but my first introduction to his “ strange 
 song ” was w'hen walking many years ago from Waterford 
 to Tramore. At about midnight one night in July, it broke 
 upon my ears, and I was assured by my friend and pupil, 
 Kev. Joseph Bewley, a great lover of birds, that it was 
 the “ churr ” of the Nightjar. Mr. Seebohm compares 
 this note to the letter “ r,” rapidly pronounced so as to 
 make the tongue vibrate, and sometimes varying in tone, as 
 if the bird were at one time drawing in its breath, and at 
 the other breathing out as it sang. The “ coic,” or “ chic,^^ 
 or “ dak,” uttered on the wing, is compared by Mr. Norgate, 
 in the Zoologist of March, 1884, to the sound produced 
 “ by twanging a short bit of India-rubber cord w^hen it is 
 tightly strained, or a metallic tongue fixed by one end in a 
 vice.” Besides these sounds, it also makes occasionally a 
 curious clapping noise, of w'hich Gilbert White observes : 
 “ When a person approaches the haunt of the fern owls in 
 an evening, they continue flying round the head of the 
 
160 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 intruder, and by striking their wings together above their 
 backs, in the manner that the pigeons called smiters are 
 known to do, make a smart snap ; perhaps at that time 
 they are jealous for their young, and their noise and 
 gesture are intended by way of menace.” In leaving the 
 song of the Nightjar, I think that the word “purring” 
 seems as applicable to it as “ churring,^’ and that it is 
 certainly the most remarkable bird-voice heard in Ireland. 
 
 The plumage and markings of the Nightjar remind one 
 forcibly of some of our large moths ; the peculiar softness 
 of the feathers, and noiselessness of the flight, of its noc¬ 
 turnal associates the owls. With reference to what is called 
 its “pectinated claw,” which much resembles a close¬ 
 toothed comb, many theories have been entertained. Some 
 have thought that the bird captured its insect prey with this 
 claw, and thus transferred it to its mouth; others believe 
 that it was used to divest the bill of the insects which 
 might adhere to the bristles in the mouth. Mr. Seebdhm, 
 however, is of opinion that most probably it is of service in 
 disengaging the hooked feet of the beetles upon which the 
 bird feeds from the bill. The Nightjar perches lengthwise 
 on the bough of a tree, not across it, as other birds do ; and, 
 sitting with his head down and motionless, the bird’s 
 colour is eminently protective, for it looks precisely “ like 
 the stump of a dead, broken-off branch.” 
 
 The female makes no nest, but lays her two eggs in a 
 hollow on the ground ; they are of a white colour, blotched 
 with grey; the hollow made by a cow^s or horse’s hoof is a 
 favourite spot; and the bird, as she sits closely upon her 
 eggs, escapes notice, from the protective colouring alluded 
 to above. Mr. Norgate says that, on 29th June, 1876, he 
 saw a female Nightjar sitting on her two young ones, which 
 
NIGHTJAR. 
 
 161 
 
 were nearly feathered. The old bird, on his approach, 
 remained motionless, except that it closed—or nearly 
 closed—its large eyes, or at any rate that eye which he 
 could see, as if aware that its eyes were the most con¬ 
 spicuous part of it. The young birds are of a lighter colour 
 than the old birds, and are without the white spots con¬ 
 spicuous on the wings and tails of the males. They are 
 usually hatched out by the middle of July. 
 
 Both the Nightjar and the cuckoo have very frequently 
 been mistaken for hawks; and zealous gamekeepers in 
 England add them to the trophies hanging on the stable- 
 door, or in front of the cottage. No more harmless bird, 
 however, can be found than our interesting friend. The 
 moth, the beetle, the cockchafer alone have cause to fear 
 that swift and noiseless wing, that wide and snapping 
 mouth. The common error preserved in our name goat¬ 
 sucker, and the German, Geissmelker, is admirably exposed 
 by Waterton. When the moon shines brightly,” he says, 
 “ you may have a fair opportunity of examining the goat¬ 
 sucker ; you will see it close by the cows, goats, and sheep, 
 jumping up every now and then under their bellies. Ap¬ 
 proach a little nearer ; he is not shy ; ‘ he fears no danger, 
 for he knows no sin.’ See how the nocturnal flies are tor¬ 
 menting the poor kine, and with what dexterity he springs 
 up and catches them as fast as they alight on the belly, 
 legs, and udders of the poor animals. Observe how quietly 
 they stand, and how sensible they seem of his good offlees ; 
 for they neither strike at him nor try to drive him away as 
 an uncivil intruder. Were you to dissect him, and inspect 
 his stomach, you would find no milk there; it is full of the 
 flies that have been annoying the herd.” 
 
 The haunts of the Nightjar are open heaths and wooded 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 OUK IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 districts.^’ In Ireland, however, it seems usually to prefef 
 hill-sides, with fern-clad rocks, to trees. I have myself 
 heard it in only three localities in this country, viz, ; Hill 
 of Howth, near Dublin; the Old Tramore Road from 
 Waterford ; and Pembrokestown, not far from the town of 
 Tramore. I have frequently heard it in Wales along the 
 Menai Strait, and at Llanfairfechan. 
 
 Mr. Gosse gives an interesting description of “ a night 
 with fern owls,” as described by Mr. Thomas, the bird- 
 keeper at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, with which I 
 shall conclude an imperfect notice of this most interest¬ 
 ing bird. Mr. Thomas had taken a holiday, and intended 
 to spend a summer night in the open air many miles 
 away from London. He selected a haycock at the edge of 
 a wood as a fit resting-place, and then burrowed down into 
 the middle of the hay, just leaving his head exposed for a 
 little fresh air, and free for any observation he might 
 make under the light of the unclouded moon. “ In such a 
 soft, warm, and fragrant bed, sleep soon overcame him, till 
 he awoke with a confused idea of elves, sprites, fairies, and 
 pixies, holding their midnight dances around him. I had 
 not been long again settled,” he says, “ on my grassy 
 couch, reflecting upon my wild, fantastic dream, when my 
 attention was drawn to the singular wild, ringing strain of 
 the fern owl. It resembled at times the whirring, rapid 
 rotation of a wheel, now swelling, now diminishing, the 
 sound intermixed with ‘ kurring’ and ‘croaking^ noises, 
 some of them having a ventriloquial effect; there was now 
 and then a sharp, unearthly kind of shriek ; presently there 
 were the same sounds issuing from other quarters of the 
 wood, until the whole place was ringing with the wild noc¬ 
 turnal notes. As day-break advanced, I could see the fern 
 
CUCKOO. 
 
 163 
 
 owls (there were at least from four to six birds) hawking 
 for moths, chasing and pursuing each other, and sweeping 
 along with surprisingly sudden turns and tumblings. As 
 I sat motionless, with my head just above the surface of the 
 hayrick, I had a good view of their proceedings; the birds 
 were continually snapping at the numerous small moths 
 which were hovering over the heaps of hay. The birds are 
 not very shy when pursuing their prey, for they would 
 glide along close by me. Amidst the gloom one could see 
 them looming in certain positions, as a ship at sea is some¬ 
 times to be seen in the night-time. At times the fern 
 owls would suddenly appear close to me, as if by magic, 
 and then shoot off, like meteors passing through the air. 
 The spectral and owl-like appearance, the noiseless, wheel¬ 
 ing flight of the birds, as they darted by, would almost 
 persuade one that he was on enchanted ground; and I 
 wished at the time that some of our Museum naturalists 
 had been with me to have shared the pleasure I felt at this 
 nocturnal and beautiful scene from nature.^^ 
 
 The well-known American “ Whip-Poor-Will” is a bird 
 allied to this species. 
 
 CUCKOO. 
 
 Cuculus canorus; Coucou gris; Gemeiner Kuch Kuk; 
 Gaiich; Koekoek (Dutch). 
 
 Bill, black; legs and toes, yellow; head, crown, neck, 
 and back, bluish ash-colour ; chin, throat, and breast, 
 paler; under parts, whitish, barred with greyish-black; 
 vent also whitish; tail, bluish-blacki with white spots. 
 
164 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The plumage of the female is brown rather than grey; 
 adult females, however, differ but little from the males. 
 Length, about fourteen inches. 
 
 It may at first sight be thought strange to include the 
 Cuckoo amongst our birds of song. The fact, however, 
 that its well-known cry is uttered by the male bird only, 
 and by him only in the breeding season, may be accepted 
 as a proof that it is really a song, and that the singer 
 deserves a place in our list of song birds. 
 
 When the Cuckoo goes abroad, he much resembles a 
 hawk as he skims along; and hence the common idea that 
 the Cuckoos become sparrow-hawks, or rather merlins, in 
 the winter. He is seldom seen on the ground; there he 
 is clumsy and awkward, and progresses by short hops as 
 he searches for food; but he flies rapidly and without 
 apparent effort. 
 
 The range of the Cuckoo extends from the Arctic Circle, 
 both in Europe and Asia, to South Africa and Southern 
 India ; everywhere in and about the United Kingdom he 
 is common, and may be found in the small uninhabited 
 islands of the Hebrides, and is said even to have occurred 
 in the Faroe Islands. 
 
 With the poets the Cuckoo has always been a bird of 
 fame ; so Shakespeare :— 
 
 “ The plain song Cuckoo grey. 
 
 Whose note full many a man doth mark, 
 
 And dares not answer nay. ” 
 
 And Wordsworth :— 
 
 “ 0 Cuckoo I shall I call thee bird. 
 
 Or but a wandering voice ? 
 
CUCKOO. 
 
 165 
 
 Darling of the spring, 
 
 No bird, but an invisible thing— 
 
 A voice, a mystery.” 
 
 Whilst Quarles, in his Divine Fancies, thus alludes to the 
 strange habits of the bird :— 
 
 “ The idle Cuckoo, having made a feast 
 
 On sparrows’ eggs, lays down her own in the nest; 
 
 The silly bird, she ownes it, hatches, feeds it. 
 
 Protects it from the weather, clocks and breeds it ; 
 
 But when this gaping monster hath found strength 
 To shift without a helper, she at length. 
 
 Not caring for the tender care that bred her, 
 
 Forgets her parent, kills the bird that fed her.” 
 
 The times and seasons of the Cuckoo have been aptly 
 described in the doggrel: — 
 
 “ In April 
 Come he will; 
 
 In IMay 
 
 He sings all day ; 
 
 In June 
 
 He alters his tune ; 
 
 In July 
 
 He prepares to fly ; 
 
 Come August, 
 
 Go he must.” 
 
 The Cuckoo’s well-known song is always in a minor 
 third; but in some birds the key is much higher than in 
 others. When several birds are singing in the same neigh¬ 
 bourhood, the effect is, therefore, often very curious. Be¬ 
 sides his “ cuckoo ” song, the male has a harsh note which 
 has been written down as ‘^quawawa” or “ haghaghaghag.” 
 The female has a laughing note, “ quickwickwick,” or 
 
166 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 “ kickikickicki/^ as my friend, Mr. Eathborne, of Dunsinea, 
 a great authority on such matters, has it. When the male 
 “ alters his tune,” it is for “ cu cu cu cu,” and it is said 
 that he will approach, if mimicked well by some careful 
 observer. 
 
 I do not think that I ever heard the Cuckoo’s note under 
 such pleasing circumstances, or was so favourably impressed 
 with it, as when visiting the fine valley of Glen-na-smeoil 
 (the Valley of the Thrush) a few years ago, in company 
 with Captain Cary and another friend; the male bird 
 passed us flying low, and followed at a short distance by 
 the female, whom he seemed to lure onwards by a singu¬ 
 larly melodious “ cuckoo, cuckoo.” 
 
 When this bird appears abroad, he is often mobbed by 
 smaller birds, who seem to hold him in great detestation, 
 perhaps from the idea that he belongs to the hawk tribe; 
 occasionally, however, he appears to exercise a kind of 
 fascination over them, for at his cry birds will flock from 
 various quarters, and betake themselves to neighbouring 
 trees as if to listen and admire. As the bird sings 
 “cuckoo,” he seems to bend down, lower his wings, and 
 jerk his tail—peculiarities which our German friends have 
 endeavoured to reproduce in the Cuckoo to be found in 
 most clockmakers’ establishments. 
 
 No certain reason can be assigned for the strange habits 
 of the Cuckoo with regard to its young. The bird docs 
 not pair, and male and female are seldom seen together; 
 but the male is usually attended by a smaller bird, which 
 Mr. Johns believes to be a meadow pipit; this obsequious 
 attendant flies after him, and perches near him when he 
 alights, as if affected by some mesmeric influence. The 
 females are much fewer in number than the males; they 
 
CUCKOO. 167 
 
 are polyandrous, and visit from time to time the districts 
 which the males have appropriated as their own. 
 
 For a long time it was believed that the female laid but 
 one egg; but now she is credited with from five to a dozen ; 
 these are variously coloured, and hence it was thought that 
 she possessed the power of assimilating the colour to that 
 of the eggs of the bird in whose nest she intended to 
 deposit them. This idea is, of course, erroneous. Pro¬ 
 fessor Newton’s opinion is that the peculiar colour is here¬ 
 ditary in the bird, as is also the habit of laying year after 
 year in the nest of the same bird. In the Zoologist for 
 1873 it was mentioned that a wagtail had built its nest 
 for eight or nine years in the same spot, and that each 
 year it had contained a Cuckoo’s egg. The usual colour 
 of the eggs is a greyish-white, with spots of greenish-buff; 
 but some are blue and unspotted. 
 
 The bird most in favour with the Cuckoo seems to be 
 the meadow pipit or titlark; but she often patronizes the 
 nests of the pied wagtail, hedge sparrow, yellow bunting, 
 and many others. In some of these cases the Cuckoo, no 
 doubt, sits upon the nest when laying; in others, however, 
 it would be impossible for a bird of her size to do so; in 
 such cases, therefore, the egg is laid upon the ground, and 
 then carried by the female in her bill, and carefully inserted 
 in the opening of the nest. As her egg is very small, and 
 her gape very large, this is not a very difficult performance. 
 Different reasons have been assigned for the Cuckoo’s 
 strange habits; the most probable seems to be that 
 the old birds remain for so short a time in the country as 
 to make it impossible for their young to be sufficiently 
 strong upon the wing to accompany them in their flight, 
 and that they would thus be certain to perish were it not 
 
168 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 that their foster-parents tend them with such unremitting 
 pains and attention; this is a question, however, which it 
 is by no means easy to determine. 
 
 Dr. Jenner, in 1788, was the first to discover the fact 
 now so well known, that the young Cuckoo ejects the young 
 of the bird in whose nest it has been hatched from their 
 rightful home. He says :— 
 
 “ I discovered the young Cuckoo, though so nearly 
 hatched, in the act of turning out the hedge sparrow. The 
 little animal contrived to get the bird upon its back, and, 
 making a lodgment for its burden by elevating its elbows, 
 clambered backwards with it up the side of the nest till it 
 reached the top, where, resting for a moment, it threw off 
 its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from the nest. 
 It remained in this situation for a short time, feeling about 
 with the extremities of its wings, as if to be convinced 
 whether the business was properly executed, and then 
 dropped into the nest again.” 
 
 More than one observer has noted a fact which seems to 
 bear upon this strange instinct in the young Cuckoo—that 
 the bird, when touched unexpectedly, throws itself back¬ 
 ward with considerable force. Mr. Gould was for a time, 
 however, sceptical as to this wonderful performance; he 
 has, however, had reason to change his opinion, and he 
 has now given the weight of his great authority to the 
 belief that the young Cuckoo makes short work of other 
 young birds hatched out in the same nest. 
 
 The food of the Cuckoo consists mainly of insects; it is 
 a climbing bird, but it explores trees in a horizontal or 
 slanting direction; it does not ascend perpendicularly like 
 the creeper, nor does it use its bill for making holes in 
 trees, like the woodpecker, but seems to be “ a half perch- 
 
CUCKOO. 
 
 169 
 
 ing and half climbing bird.” It is also a most voracious 
 eater, and it is only by constant and almost painful assi¬ 
 duity that when young its wants can be supplied by its 
 foster-parents. Their devotion is indeed extraordinary. 
 Mr. Weir tells us that on one occasion he found a young 
 Cuckoo covered by an old titlark with outstretched wings 
 from a very heavy shower of rain, while her own young 
 ones had in the meantime been expelled by the Cuckoo, 
 and were lying lifeless within two inches of her nest; the 
 infatuated bird thus converting herself into an umbrella for 
 the sole benefit of the murderer of her own offspring. It 
 is said that if two Cuckoo’s eggs are laid in the same nest, 
 and hatched out, the stronger of the two young birds will 
 eject the weaker. 
 
 I may conclude this notice of one of our most remarkable 
 birds by quoting John Hey wood’s Epigram, dated 1587, 
 as given in the last edition of White’s Selhorne :— 
 
 “ Use maketh maistry, this hath been said alway ; 
 
 But all is not alway as all men do say. 
 
 In April, the Koocoo can sing her song by rote; 
 
 In June, of tune she cannot sing a note : 
 
 At first ‘ koocoo, koocoo,’ sing still can she do ; 
 
 At last ‘ kooke, kooke, kooke,’ six kookes to one coo.” 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NATUKALIST’S CALENDAR. 
 
 (Compiled from White and Markwick’s Calehdar, kept at Selborne.) 
 
 Sho 2 inng the arrival and departure of singing Birds of Passage. 
 The second dates express respectively the earliest and latest 
 dates recorded. 
 
 SUMMER MIGRANTS. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arrival. 
 
 Departure. 
 
 Wheatear ... 
 
 Mid March ; March 15. 
 
 End of August; Oct. 26. 
 
 Chiff-chaff ... 
 
 End of March. 
 
 Early in Oct. ; Oct. 28. 
 
 Willow Warbler 
 
 Early in April. 
 
 Mid September. 
 
 Wood Warbler 
 
 End of April; April 10. 
 
 Mid September. 
 
 (i arden Warbler 
 
 End of April. 
 
 September. 
 
 Nightingale 
 
 Mid April. 
 
 Mid Aug. ; Aug. 29. 
 
 Sept. ; Sept. 19. 
 September. 
 
 Blackcap ... 
 
 Mid April. 
 
 Grasshopper Warbler 
 
 Mid April; April 16. 
 
 Sedge Warbler 
 
 Late in April. 
 
 Mid October. 
 
 Whitethroat 
 
 Late in April; April 14. 
 
 Late in Sept. ; Sept. 23. 
 
 Ring Ousel... 
 
 Early in April; Mar. 30. 
 
 About Michaelmas ; 
 October ll; 
 
 Whinchat ... 
 
 End of April. 
 
 Late in October. 
 
 Redstart 
 
 Mid April; April 8. 
 
 Early in Sept.; Sept. 30. 
 
 Spotted Flycatcher ... 
 
 Early in May. 
 
 Early in Sept.; Sept. 29. 
 
 Tree Pipit... 
 
 Third week in April. 
 
 September. 
 
 Swallow 
 
 Mid April; March 26. 
 
 Early in Oct.; Nov. 16. 
 
 House Martin ' 
 
 Mid April; March 28. 
 
 Mid Oct.; Dec. 8. 
 
 Sand Martin 
 
 End of March ; Mar. 21. 
 
 Mid Aug.; Sept. 8. 
 
 First week in' August; 
 August 27. 
 
 Swift 
 
 Early in May ; April 13. 
 
 Nightjar ... 
 
 Mid May. 
 
 End of September. 
 
 Cuckoo 
 
 Mid April; April 7. 
 
 Early in August : last 
 heard, June 28. 
 
 Corncrake ... 
 
 Mid April. 
 
 Early in October. 
 
172 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 WINTER MIGRANTS. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arrival. 
 
 1 Departure. 
 
 Fieldfare ... 
 
 End of Oct. ; Oct. 12. 
 
 Late in April; May 1. 
 
 Redwing 
 
 Mid October ; October 1. 
 
 Late in April. 
 
 Snow Bunting 
 
 End of October. 
 
 Mid April. 
 
 Brambling ... 
 
 End of October. 
 
 March. 
 
 Hawfinch ... 
 
 End of October. 
 
 April. 
 
 DATES OF AKPJVAL OF THE SWALLOW TRIBE IN 
 VARIOUS PLACES IN EUROPE. 
 
 From a Table furnished to the Linncean Society by 
 
 Mr. Forster. 
 
 
 Swallow. 
 
 Sand 
 
 Martin. 
 
 House 
 
 Martin. 
 
 Swift. 
 
 Naples. 
 
 February 27. 
 
 April 3. 
 
 April 10. 
 
 April 15. 
 
 Rome . 
 
 March 3. 
 
 April 5. 
 
 April 15. 
 
 April 18. 
 
 Pisa . 
 
 March 5. 
 
 April 8. 
 
 April 16. 
 
 April 20. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 March 25. 
 
 April 12. 
 
 April 20. 
 
 April 23. 
 
 Bruges . 
 
 April 6. 
 
 April 25. 
 
 May 1. 
 
 April 30. 
 
 London... .,. 
 
 April 15. 
 
 April 25. 
 
 April 30. 
 
 May 3. 
 
tabulae view of bieds in song each month 
 
 IN THE NEIGHBOUEHOOD OF DUBLIN. 
 
 By J. R. Kinahan, M.D. 
 
 From Proceedings of Dublin Natural History Society, Vol. I. 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 April. 
 
 Ma3’. 
 
 L 
 
 June. 
 
 July. 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 , Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 I Dipper ... 
 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 I Song Thrush ... 
 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 1 Blackbird 
 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 Mis.sel Thrush... 
 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fieldfare 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Redwing 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 Ring Ousel 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Robin 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 Pied Wagtail ... 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 Grey Wagtail ... 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 Wheatear 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wh inchat 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stonechat 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whitethroat ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Willow Warbler 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chiff-chaff 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 Gold-crest 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 Blue Tit 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Tit 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 s 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 Coal Tit 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Long-tailed Tit 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hedge Sparrow 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 Meadow Pipit... 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Starling 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Greenfinch 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Siskin 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Linnet 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 *s' 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Redpoll 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chaffinch 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 g 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 Yellow Hammer 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 g 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Corn Bunting... 
 
 
 i s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Reed Bunting... 
 
 
 1 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Woodlark 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Skylark 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 Wren 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 g 
 
 Swallow 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 s 
 
 g 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Woodquest 
 
 
 s 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Corncrake 
 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 s 
 
 s' 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cuckoo 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (s) Sings. (r) Records. (...) Not Heard. 
 
HON. HAINES BAERINGTON’S ESTIMATE OF THE 
 PRINCIPAL BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 
 Mellowness. 
 
 Sprightliness. 
 
 Plaintiveness. 1 
 
 Compass. | 
 
 Execution. 
 
 ' 
 
 Total. 
 
 Nightingale 
 
 19 
 
 14 
 
 19 
 
 19 
 
 19 
 
 90 
 
 Linnet 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 18 
 
 74 
 
 Blackcap ... 
 
 14 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 66 
 
 Skylark 
 
 4 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 63 
 
 Woodlark ... 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 17 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 69 
 
 Robin 
 
 6 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 68 
 
 Goldfinch ... 
 
 4 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 61 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 175 
 
 BIKDS THAT SING WHILST FLYING. 
 
 Skylark, Woodlark, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Blackbird, 
 Whitethroat, Swallow, Cuckoo. 
 
 Gilbert White gives the Wren also. I have, however, never 
 heard it sing whilst on the wing. 
 
 BIKDS THAT SING AT NIGHT. 
 
 Sedge Warbler (Irish Nightingale), Grasshopper Warbler, 
 Nightjar. 
 
 The Song Thrush and Robin often sing at night. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Irwin heard a Thrush in full song at 1.30 a.m., at 
 Newtownmountkennedy, on March 22, 18G6. 
 
 BIRDS WHOSE FEMALES SOMETIMES SING. 
 
 The most noted of these is undoubtedly the Skylark, although 
 Burns was somewhat at sea when he spoke of her as absent all day 
 from her nest, on a singing tour— 
 
 “ The lav’rock in the morning she’ll rise frae her nest. 
 
 And mount to the air wi’ the dew upon her breast, 
 
 And wi’ the merry ploughman she’ll whistle and sing, 
 
 And at night she’ll return to her nest back agin.” 
 
 The hen Meadow Pipit is also occasionally a songster. 
 
 This Dr. Kinahan has proved by dissection, and in one case, at 
 all events, he has shown, by a similar process, that a hen Starling 
 possessed like vocal powers to the male. 
 
 I am not aware that the females of any other birds are simi¬ 
 larly gifted. 
 
176 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 OUK SONG BIRDS^ NESTS AND EGGS. 
 (Compiled from the Field Naturalist, by Rev. J. G. Wood.) 
 
 Popular Name. 
 
 Locality of Nest. 
 
 Average 
 No. of Kggs. 
 
 Missel Thrush. 
 
 Trees. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Fieldfare. 
 
 Never known to breed here. 
 
 _ 
 
 Redwing. 
 
 Hardly ever nests here. 
 
 _ 
 
 Song Thrush. 
 
 Bushes and hedges. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Ring Ousel. 
 
 On or near ground. 
 
 3-5 
 
 Water Ousel. 
 
 Holes in stream-banks. 
 
 5-6 
 
 Nightingale. 
 
 Hedges and bushes. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Blackcap. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Garden Warbler. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-6 
 
 Whitethroat. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Wood Warbler. 
 
 On the ground. 
 
 6 
 
 Willow Warbler. 
 
 Do. 
 
 6-7 
 
 Chiff-chaflf. 
 
 On or near the ground. 
 
 6 
 
 Grasshopper Warbler. 
 
 Tufts of grass and bushes. 
 
 6-7 
 
 Sedge Warbler. 
 
 Bushes and reeds. 
 
 6-6 
 
 Redstart. 
 
 Holes in trees and walls. 
 
 4-6 
 
 Tree Pipit. 
 
 On the ground. 
 
 6-6 
 
 Meadow Pipit. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-6 
 
 Rock Pipit. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Skylark. 
 
 Do. 
 
 3-5 
 
 Woodlark. 
 
 Do. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Snow Bunting. 
 
 Does not breed here. 
 
 _ 
 
 Corn Bunting. 
 
 On or near the ground. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Reed Bunting. 
 
 On the ground, near water. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Yellow Bunting. 
 
 Low bushes or hedge-banks. 
 
 3-5 
 
 Robin. 
 
 Almost anywhere. 
 
 5-7 
 
 Hedge Sparrow. 
 
 Hedges and bushes. 
 
 4-5 
 
 Wren. 
 
 Banks, thatch, walls. 
 
 6-10 
 
 Stonechat. 
 
 On or near the ground. 
 
 6-6 
 
 Whinchat. 
 
 Do. 
 
 6-6 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 177 
 
 Average 
 
 Popular Name. Locality of Nest. No. of Eggf 
 
 Wheatear. Holes in walls, &c. 5-6 
 
 Gold-crest. Below branch of spruce-fir. 7-8 
 
 Great Tit. Holes in walls and trees. 6-9 
 
 Blue Tit. Do. 6-12 
 
 Coal Tit. Holes in trees. 6-8 
 
 Long-tailed Tit. Trees and bushes. 9-12 
 
 Chaffinch. Tree forks, bushes, &c. 4-5 
 
 Brambling. Does not breed here. — 
 
 Greenfinch. Trees, hedges, and bushes. 4-6 
 
 Goldfinch. Hedges, bushes, and tree 4-5 
 
 . forks. 
 
 Bullfinch. Thick bushes and trees. 4-5 
 
 Linnet. Thorn hedges and furze. 4-6 
 
 Redpoll. Bushes and stunted trees. 4-5 
 
 Twite. On ground, in grass or 4-6 
 
 heather. 
 
 Siskin. Trees. — 
 
 Hawfinch. Trees and bushes. 4-6 
 
 Starling. Dovecots, ruins, towns. 4-6 
 
 Swallow. Eaves, chimneys, &c. 4-6 
 
 Nightjar. Holes in ground. 2 
 
 Cuckoo. Nests of Hedge Sparrow, — 
 
 Meadow Pipit, Wagtail, 
 
 &c. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 ODDS AND ENDS OE BIED-LIEE 
 
 FOR 
 
 MY YOUTHFUL EEADEES. 
 
 The largest European song bird is the Missel Thrush. 
 
 The smallest European bird is the Golden-crested Wren. 
 
 The smallest European Thrush is the Redwing. 
 
 The migratory Thrushes are—the Ring Ousel (summer), and the 
 Fieldfare and Redwing (winter). 
 
 The gregarious Thrushes are the Missel Thrush, the Fieldfare, the 
 Redwing, and the Ring Ousel. 
 
 The only song bird not heard during the time of incubation is 
 the Missel Thrush. 
 
 The Golden Oriole and the Mocking-bird of America (Mimus 
 polyglottus) are also allied to the Thrushes. 
 
 White’s Thrush is a singularly beautiful bird. 
 
 The only bird able to walk down a tree head foremost is the 
 Nuthatch. 
 
 No Woodpeckers are indigenous to Ireland, and of the Carrion 
 Crow but one specimen is known. 
 
 The Sedge Warbler is often called the-“ Irish Nightingale.” 
 
 The only bird peculiar to Great Britain is the Red Grouse, to 
 which some would add the St. Kilda Wren. 
 
 The bird which in Ireland is called the YeUow Wagtail is known 
 to naturalists as the Grey Wagtail; the true Yellow, or Ray’s 
 Wagtail, is a very rare bird in this country. 
 
 The Pied Flycatcher is usually the last to arrive of our summer 
 migrants. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 179 
 
 The Skelligs, County Kerry, and the Bull and Cow Rock, 
 County Cork, are said to be the only Irish breeding-places of the 
 Gannet. 
 
 There are about fifty-five summer and forty-five winter migrants 
 in Ireland. 
 
 Neither the Black Grouse nor the Ptarmigan is a native of 
 Ireland. 
 
 The bird usually called the “ Green Linnet ” is not a Linnet, nor 
 is the “ Hedge Sparrow ” a Sparrow. 
 
 The most beautiful nest in this country is that of the Long-tailed 
 Titmouse. 
 
 The Wren and the Dipper are the only birds in Ireland with 
 erect tails. 
 
 The only song bird of the Arctic regions is the Snow Bunting. 
 
 The Laughing Jackass is a species of Kingfisher. 
 
 When, as in autumn and winter, flocks composed of various 
 species feed in company, it is found that they separate at night; 
 birds only of the same species roosting together, to assemble again 
 with their congeners in the morning. 
 
 A few birds are more common in Ireland than in England ; 
 of these the principal are the Peregrine Falcon, Raven, Chough, 
 Magpie, the Stonechat, the Grey Wagtail, the Snipe, Heron, and 
 other water birds. 
 
 The females of birds of prey are usually one-third larger than the 
 males of song birds; amongst the Warblers, the hen Blackcap 
 alone is larger than the cock. 
 
 The Germans imagine that the voice of the Chaffinch most nearly 
 resembles the human. In the West of England they say he always 
 cries about the 26th of March— 
 
 “ Pay your rent—Pay your rent—Pay your rent.” 
 
 That rare and beautiful bird the Bearded Tit is sometimes called 
 the “ Reed Pheasant.” 
 
 The call-note of the Pied Wagtail resembles the word “physic; 
 that of the Pied Flycatcher, the syllables “ pse-chip-chip.” The 
 latter is said to be the mutest bird in Great Britain or Ireland. 
 
 The voice of the Magpie and that of the kid are somewhat alike. 
 
 The Jay possesses the loudest voice of any British bird. 
 
 The Cormorant is the “ basso ” of his tribe, with his trombone 
 notes. 
 
180 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 The Kentish Goldfinches, the Essex ChaflBnches, and the Surrey 
 Nightingales are generally preferred. 
 
 No Irish Owls hoot; the Tawny Owl may often he heard in 
 Wales, with his “ Ho-ho-ho-ho-o-o,” the third Ho ” pronounced in 
 a tremulous tone. 
 
 The Nightingale is the easiest bird to catch, and the hardest to 
 keep alive. 
 
 The Chaffinch sang his full song, January 28, 1886, an unusually 
 early date. 
 
 Young birds in most cases attempt to sing shortly after they leave 
 the nest. 
 
 The speed of the Swift has been estimated at more than 150 
 miles per hour ; that of the Swallow at more than 100; the Homing 
 Pigeon rarely attains a speed of more than forty miles for any 
 considerable distance. 
 
 A Swift could fiy to Africa from Ireland in about seven hours ; a 
 Swallow would take ten or twelve probably. 
 
 The Corncrake, or Land Rail, is a migratory bird. A specimen 
 has occurred in the Bermudas, 600 miles from the American 
 coast. 
 
 The Fire-crested Wren is not found in Ireland. 
 
 The “ Cuckoo’s mate ” is the Wryneck, a bird only once taken 
 in Ireland. 
 
 It is said that most birds utter a double note when the nest is 
 near.—(Blyth.) 
 
 It is said that the Dipper can walk along the bottom of shallow 
 streams. 
 
 Migratory birds usually cross from Africa to Europe during a 
 Levanter. June is the only month in which no birds are crossing 
 the Straits of Gibraltar.—(See Harting’s Summer Migrants.') 
 
 The Seagulls on the Yorkshire coast are often called the 
 “ Flamborough Pilots,” as their cries warn sailors of the near ap¬ 
 proach to land in a fog or snow-storm. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 181 
 
 LIST OF IRISH BIRDS—ORDER PASSERES— 
 
 Compiled mainly from Mr. A. G. Morels recently published 
 “ List of Irish Birds.'' 
 
 Lanid^. 
 
 Great Grey Shrike, Lanius excubitor. 
 Red-backed Shi’ike, Lanius collurio. 
 
 Rare. 
 
 Has once occurred. 
 
 Muscicapid^. 
 
 
 Spotted Flycatcher, Mnscicapa grisola. 
 
 Pied Flycatcher, Muscicapa atricapilla. 
 
 Summer migrant. 
 
 Has once occurred. 
 
 Oriolid^. 
 
 
 Golden Oriole, Oriolus galbula. 
 
 Very rare summer migrant. 
 
 CiNCLIDJE. 
 
 
 Dipper, ... Cinclus aquaticus. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Ixin^, 
 
 
 Gold-vented Thrush, Pycnonotus capensis. 
 
 Once near Waterford. 
 
 TuRDIDiE. 
 
 
 Wliite’s Thrush, Turdus varius. 
 
 Mistletoe Thrush, Turdus viscivorus. 
 
 Song Thrush, Turdus musicus. 
 
 Redwing, Turdus iliacus. 
 
 Fieldfare, Turdus pilaris. 
 
 Blackbird, Turdus merula. 
 
 Ring Ousel, Turdus torquatus. 
 
 Has thrice occurred. 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Winter migrant. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 Summer migrant. 
 
182 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Hedge Sparrow, 
 
 Sylviid^. 
 
 Accentor modularis. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Redbreast, 
 
 Erithacus rubecula. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Redstart, 
 
 Ruticilla phoenicurus. 
 
 Very rare summer migrant. 
 
 Black Redstart, 
 
 Ruticilla titys. 
 
 Rare winter migrant. 
 
 Stonechat, 
 
 Saxicola rubicola. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Whincliat, 
 
 Saxicola rubetra. 
 
 Summer migrant. 
 
 Wheatear, 
 
 Saxicola oenanthe. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Icterine Warbler, 
 
 Hypolais icterina. 
 
 Has once occurred. 
 
 Reed Warbler, 
 
 Acrocephalus streperus. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Sedge Warbler, 
 
 Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. Summer migrant. 
 
 Grasshopper War¬ 
 bler, 
 
 Acrocephalus noevius. 
 
 Rare summer migrant. 
 
 Greater White- 
 throat, 
 
 Sylvia rufa. 
 
 Summer migrant. 
 
 Garden Warbler, 
 
 Sylvia salicaria. 
 
 Do. rare. 
 
 Blackcap, 
 
 Sylvia atricapilla. 
 
 Do. somewhat rare. 
 
 Wood Wren, 
 
 Phylloscopus sibilatrix. 
 
 Do. rare. 
 
 Willow Wren, 
 
 Phylloscopus trochilus. 
 
 Do. common. 
 
 Chiff-chaff, 
 
 Phylloscopus collybita. 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 Golden-crested 
 
 Wren, 
 
 Regulus cristatus. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Wren, 
 
 Troglodytid^. 
 
 Troglodytes parvulus. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Tree Creeper, 
 
 Ceethiid^. 
 
 Certhia familiaris. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Great Titmouse, 
 
 Parid^. 
 Parus major. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Blue Titmouse, 
 
 Parulus coeruleus. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Coal Titmouse, 
 
 Parus ater. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Marsh Titmouse 
 
 Parus palustris. 
 
 Very rare. 
 
 Long-tailed Tit¬ 
 mouse, 
 
 Acredula caudata. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 183 
 
 Ampelidje, 
 
 Waxwing, 
 
 Ampelis garrulus. 
 
 Motacillid^. 
 
 Winter migrant, rare. 
 
 Pied Wagtail, 
 
 Motacilla lugubris. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 White Wagtail, 
 
 Motacilla alba. 
 
 Summer migrant, rare. 
 
 Grey Wagtail, 
 
 Motacilla sulphurea. 
 
 Resident. 
 
 Yellow Wagtail, 
 
 Motacilla Raii. 
 
 Summer migrant, rare. 
 
 Meadow Pipit, 
 
 Anthus pratensis. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Rock Pipit, 
 
 Anthus obscurus. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Tree Pipit, 
 
 Anthus arbpreus. 
 
 ALAUDIDiE. 
 
 Of doubtful occurrence. 
 
 Skylark, 
 
 Alauda aryensis. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Woodlark, 
 
 Alauda arborea. 
 
 Emberizid.®. 
 
 Very rare. 
 
 Snow Bunting, 
 
 Plectrophanes nivalis. 
 
 Winter migrant. 
 
 Reed Bunting, 
 
 Eniberiza schceniclus. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Bunting, 
 
 Emberiza miliaria- 
 
 Do. 
 
 Yellow Bunting, 
 
 Emberiza citrinella. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Ortolan, 
 
 Emberiza hortulana. 
 
 Fringillid®. 
 
 Has once occurred. 
 
 Chaffinch, 
 
 Fringilla coelebs.' 
 
 Resident and abundant. 
 
 Brauibling, 
 
 Fringilla montifringilla. 
 
 Winter migrant, rare. 
 
 Tree Sparrow, 
 
 Passer montanus. 
 
 Very rare. 
 
 House Sparrow, 
 
 Passer domesticus. 
 
 Resident and conunon. 
 
 Hawfinch, 
 
 Coccothraustes vulgaris. 
 
 Winter migrant, rare. 
 
 Greenfinch, 
 
 Coccothraustes chloris. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Goldfinch, 
 
 Carduelis elegans. 
 
 Resident, somewhat scarce. 
 
 Siskin, 
 
 Carduelis spinus. 
 
 Somewhat scarce. 
 
 Mealy Redpoll, 
 
 Linota linaria. 
 
 Winter migrant, very rare. 
 
 Lesser Redpoll, 
 
 Linota rufescens. 
 
 Resident. 
 
 Linnet, 
 
 Linota cannabina. 
 
 Resident and common. 
 
 Twite, 
 
 Linota flavirostris. 
 
 Resident, little known. 
 
184 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Bullfinch, 
 
 Pyrrhula Europsea. 
 
 Eesident and common. 
 
 Crossbill, 
 
 Loxia curvirostra. 
 
 Yery rare. 
 
 Two-barred Cross¬ 
 bill, 
 
 Loxia bifasciata. 
 
 Has occurred twice. 
 
 Starling, 
 
 Stuenid^. 
 
 Stumus vulgaris. 
 
 Eesident and common. 
 
 Eose-coloured Star¬ 
 ling, 
 
 Pastor roseus. 
 
 Yery rare. 
 
 Chough, 
 
 Corvids. 
 
 Pyrrhocorax graculus. 
 
 Eesident, especially in W. 
 
 Eaven, 
 
 Corvus corax. 
 
 and S. W. 
 
 Eare. 
 
 Carrion Crow, 
 
 Corvus corone. 
 
 Extremely rare. 
 
 Hooded Crow, 
 
 Corvus cornix. 
 
 Eesident, not numerous. 
 
 Eook, 
 
 Corvus frugilegus. 
 
 Eesident and common. 
 
 Jackdaw, 
 
 Corvus monedula. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Magpie, 
 
 Pica rustica. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Jay, 
 
 Garrulus glandarius. 
 
 Eesident in a few counties. 
 
 Swallow, 
 
 Hieundinidje. 
 
 Hirundo rustica. 
 
 Summer migrant. 
 
 House Martin, 
 
 Chelidon urbica. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Sand Martin, 
 
 Cotile riparia. 
 
 Do. 
 
 Purple Martin, 
 
 Progne purpurea. 
 
 Has occurred once 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 185 
 
 The total number of species of Birds occurring in Great Britain 
 is 395, according to Mr. Harting's Handbook of British 
 Birds ” (1872). 
 
 Residents, 
 
 
 ... 130 
 
 Periodical migrants. 
 
 
 ... 100 
 
 Annual visitants (in limited numbers). 
 
 
 ... 30 
 
 Rare and accidental visitants. 
 
 
 ... 135 
 
 Residents not found in Ireland, 
 
 
 ... 13 
 
 Periodical migrants in Ireland, 
 
 
 ... 10 
 
 Others of very rare occurrence. 
 
 
 8 
 
 Annual visitants not found in Ireland, 
 
 
 8 
 
 The principal birds found in England, but not in Ireland, or on one or two 
 occasions only, are:—The Nightingale, the Lesser Whitethroat, the Reed 
 Warbler, the Redstart, the Tree Pipit, the Golden Oriole, the Girl Bunting, 
 and a few others. 
 
186 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 BIRDS WHICH HAVE OCCURRED IN IRELAND, BUT 
 NOT IN GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Griffon Vulture —Vultur fulvus. 
 
 Once at Cork in 1843. This specimen in Natural History Museum, T.C.D, ■ 
 
 Black- winged Kite —Elanus cceruleus. 
 
 Once in the County Meath. 
 
 Gold-vented Thrush —Pycnonotus capensis. 
 
 Once near Waterford, January, 1838. 
 
 Purple Martin —Progne purpurea. 
 
 Once near Kingstown, 1839 or 1840. This specimen is now in the Science 
 and Art Museum, Dublin, and is the only authenticated example obtained 
 in Europe. 
 
 Black-billed Cuckoo —Coccyzus erythrophihalmus. 
 
 Once in County Antrim, 1871. Only one other instance of its occurrence 
 in Europe. 
 
 Belted Kingfisher —Ceryle alcyon. 
 
 Two individuals in Ireland, in 1845 ; the only two known to have visited 
 Europe. 
 
 Snow Goose —Chen hyperhoreus. 
 
 Has twice occurred. 
 
 Noddy Tern —Sterna stolida. 
 Two shot off the Tuskar in 1830. 
 
 The last five are American birds. 
 
r 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 187 
 
 lEISH NAMES OF BIRDS. 
 
 By Eev. James Goodman, M.A., Professor of Irish, T.C.D. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Pronunciation. 
 
 English Name. 
 
 Coilichin Cd,tha, 
 
 Cuiliheen cawha, 
 
 Linnet. 
 
 Gealbhan-lin, 
 
 Galoon-leen, 
 
 Do. 
 
 Caisdin-cloiche, 
 
 Caish-deen-klohe, 
 
 Stonechat. 
 
 Dreoilin, 
 
 Dhrow-leen, 
 
 A Wren. 
 
 ( Donchadh an chaipin, Doncha-an-chapeen, 
 
 Blackcap. i 
 
 1 Mairin an truis, 
 
 Maw-reen a trew-ish, 
 
 The Female. ) 
 
 Fuiseog, 
 
 Fishogue, 
 
 A Lark. 
 
 Druid, 
 
 Drid, 
 
 A Starling. 
 
 Ainleog, 
 
 Ain-logue, 
 
 A Swallow. 
 
 Glasog, 
 
 Glas ogue, 
 
 A Wagtail. 
 
 Gealbhan tighe, 
 
 Galoon tea, 
 
 House Sparrow. 
 
 Gealbhan buidhe, 
 
 Galoon bhee, 
 
 Yellow Hammer. 
 
 Gealbhan catha, 
 
 Galoon cawha, 
 
 Chatfinch. 
 
 Gealbhan cuillin. 
 
 Galoon cuilin, 
 
 Bullfinch. 
 
 (Gealbhan Feothadain, 
 
 Galoon Feow-ha-dhawin, 
 
 , Goldfinch. ) 
 
 (Lasair coille. 
 
 Lasser cuille, 
 
 Do. } 
 
 Gealbhan sgioboil, 
 
 Galoon skibowil. 
 
 The Bunting. 
 
 1 Lon dubh, 
 
 Lunn dhuv. 
 
 The Blackbird, i 
 
 ( Ciarseach, 
 
 Kiar sheach. 
 
 The Female. J 
 
 Smolach, 
 
 Smow-lagh, 
 
 A Thrush. 
 
 Smolach druislighe. 
 
 Smowlagh druishlee, 
 
 The Briar Thrush. 
 
 Riobhog, 
 
 Ree vogue. 
 
 The Hedge Sparrow. 
 
 Siocan, 
 
 Shook-awn, 
 
 Fieldfare. 
 
 Spriodog, 
 
 Spirridogue, 
 
 The Redbreast. 
 
 Snagardarach, 
 
 Snagar darragh. 
 
 Woodpecker. 
 
 Colur, 
 
 Collure, 
 
 A Pigeon. 
 
 Colmb, 
 
 Colm, 
 
 A Dove. 
 
 Cuach, 
 
 Cooagh, 
 
 A Cuckoo. 
 
 Gag, 
 
 Cawag, 
 
 Jackdaw. 
 
188 
 
 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Fiolar, 
 
 Seabhac, 
 
 ( ® ) Seabhac Seilge, 
 Corog, 
 
 Priochan, 
 
 Priochan na gcearc, 
 Fiach dubh, 
 
 Corr, 
 
 ( ® ) Corr iasg, 
 
 (^°) Corr liughan, 
 Cadhan, 
 
 Ge Fiadhain, 
 
 Cearc uisge, 
 
 *Ceann cait, 
 Sgreachog, 
 
 Traona, 
 
 Gearradh guirt, 
 Coilleach Feadha, 
 Creabhar, 
 
 (”) Cearc Fraoig, 
 Naosgach, 
 
 ('*) Gabhairin Pogha, 
 Bunan, 
 
 Pitrisg, 
 
 Feadog, 
 
 Pilibin, 
 
 Faoilean, 
 
 Cobach, 
 
 Loma, 
 
 ^13^ / Fiach mara, 
 
 < Seaguidhe, 
 
 (. Broighil, 
 
 Canog, 
 
 (^*) Gobachan, 
 Goinead, 
 
 ('*) Guardal, 
 
 Pronunciation. 
 
 Fiuller, 
 
 Sheawack, 
 Sheawack Shellge, 
 Cur ogue, 
 Preechawn, 
 Preechawn na gark, 
 Fee-och dhuv, 
 
 Cur, 
 
 Cur-iask, 
 
 Cur-loon, 
 
 Cawan, 
 
 Gay feain, 
 
 Kark usge, 
 Kown-kait, 
 Schreathogue, 
 
 Tray na, 
 
 Garra Guirth, 
 Cuileagh fah, 
 Kreaw-er, 
 
 Kark free-ig, 
 Naosg-agh, 
 Gaw-reen row, 
 
 Bun awn, 
 
 Pit-risk, 
 
 Fadogue, 
 
 Pillibeen, 
 
 Fweelan, 
 
 Co bagh, 
 
 Low-ma, 
 
 Fee-uch marra, 
 Shag-ee. 
 
 Broil, 
 
 Cawnogue, 
 
 Gubba chawn, 
 
 Guinay-ad, 
 
 Guardal, 
 
 Gat Head. 
 
 English Name. 
 
 An Eagle. 
 
 A Hawk, 
 
 A Falcon. 
 
 A Scaldcrow. 
 
 A Crow. 
 
 The Kite. 
 
 Haven. 
 
 A Crane. 
 
 The Heron. 
 
 The Curlew. 
 
 The Barnacle. 
 
 Wild Goose. 
 
 Water Hen. 
 
 An Owl. 
 
 Do. 
 
 A Corncrake. 
 
 A Quail. 
 
 A Pheasant. 
 
 A Woodcock, 
 
 A Grouse. 
 
 A Snipe. 
 
 The Jack Snipe. 
 
 A Bittern. 
 
 A Partridge. 
 
 A Plover. 
 
 A Lapwing. 
 
 A Gull. 
 
 The Blackbacked Gull. 
 A Loon. 
 
 Cormorant. 
 
 Do. 
 
 The Whitebreasted do. 
 A Puffin. 
 
 Oyster Catcher. 
 
 A Gaiinet, 
 
 The Storm Petrel. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 189 
 
 (‘) The Chaff Cock. (*) The Flax Sparrow. (^ ) Denis of the Cap, and 
 Mary of the Trews. (0 Holly Sparrow. ( ® ) The Thistle Sparrow. 
 (*) The Wood Flame. ( This is the little bird that hunts the Cuckoo. 
 (') The Hunting Hawk. (®) The Fishing Crane. ( ) The Screaming 
 Crane. (") The Heather Hen. (‘ 2 ) The Goat of the Frost. () The 
 Sea Raven. 
 
 (») This bird picks up his food when the tide is ebbing, and as soon as it 
 turns, he flies off in search of another ebbing strand, which he never succeeds 
 in finding. Hence the Irish proverb Nior eirig an da thraig leis an 
 n Gobachan a riamh ! ” i.e., “ The Gobachan never succeeds in overtaking 
 two ebbing strands.” He would have fared better by sticking to one. 
 
 (**) This bird is by some improperly called the Irish Ortolan. It is found 
 in large numbers on Inish vie Killane, one of the Blasquet Islands, off the 
 Coast of Kerry. It makes its nest in the rabbit-burrows, and is easily 
 caught by the Islanders, who salt and use it as an article of food. 
 
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