BIRD MUSIC IN THE FLATHEAD REGION. 277 



nor leaders, but they furnish the harmony in accord and accompaniment, 

 and thus aid in bringing about an effect which is quite satisfying to the 

 listener. So it is with the efforts of that gem of the swamp-woods, the Am- 

 erican redstart. Its song is short, ringing verse, very similar to that of 

 the yellow warbler, and is repeated from time to time with great energy 

 and earnestness. Like the catbird, the redstart nests comparatively late, 

 and hence its singing is an incident of our life at the Station during these 

 summer sessions, in the early part of July. 



Any of us who has been so fortunate (or unfortunate) as to have been 

 delayed at Selish, may have heard the peculiar notes of the long-tailed 

 chat in the bushy tract near the depot. The chat itself is one of our 

 beauties, a yellow songster somewhat smaller than the catbird. No other 

 bird, unless it is one of the smaller sparrows, understands so well and 

 practices so much the art of skulking. When you are looking for the 

 chat it is certain to be behind a convenient tangle of branches or foliage. 

 Its music, though, will continually come to your ears, not in song, but 

 in a series of strange whistles, suggestive of schoolboy signals, and utter- 

 ed in varying intonation. It is to be hoped that the chat will work its 

 way northward and establish itself among the bushes of our classic 

 Daphnia. 



(In 1903 the chat appeared in the bushes of Daphnia and its song 

 was heard daily.) 



Another warbler whose song can not be overlooked is the western 

 yellow-throat. This handsome songster skulks in the reedy tangles of 

 Daphnia Pond, and there its energetic singing regales us who have an 

 ear open to the voices of the birds. The song of the yellow-throat is an 

 accompaniment of the July afternoons, for this warbler has a note till 

 the end of the nesting season. The usual production may be represented 

 by the syllables "wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty, wich-i-ty," generally in series of 

 three, with the emphasis on the leading syllable. It is a loud, ringing 

 song, uttered with persistence throughout all hours of the day, and always 

 from some low situation. The songster is a handsome little yellow 

 creature, easily identified by the band of black which marks his upper 

 face and forehead. His less musical spouse lacks the black markings, 

 and is not so readily distinguished from other small yellow birds, but 

 she may be known by the rich yellow of her throat on the under side. 



The two representatives of the vireos fill no mean place in the avian 

 chorus of this region. Both are persistent songsters, and through all the 

 summer their voices can be heard mingling with other wildwood per- 

 formers. The warbling vireo utters a series of hurried, subdued meas- 

 ures, characteristized by a plaintive intonation, forming a most pleasing 

 song in gentle accord with its surroundings. The song of the red-eyed 

 vireo is a loud, monitorial repetition of three or four syllables, easily 

 identified l)y its peculiar delivery. This songster has been called the 

 "preacher" because of its monitorial style of execution in its singing. 

 Wilson Flagg has aptly translated the song of the 'preacher" in these 

 words: "You see it — you know it — do you hear me, — do you believe it?" 



The vireos are unlike most of the birds in the manner of their sing- 

 ing, as they prefer the shade of the foliage of the deciduoHS trees they 



