April 



My attention was first called to the bird by 

 hearing a remarkably clear and unfamiliar song 

 at a distance, and I started inevitably to dis- 

 cover its origin. The characteristic part of the 

 song is a triplet of tones represented by the 

 first, third, and fifth of the scale (these inter- 

 vals being remarkably precise), uttered in rapid 

 succession and repeated three or four times. 

 The introduction of the song is an indescribable 

 and intricate modulation, but the triplet was 

 never absent, and indeed was sometimes given 

 without the introduction. It seems almost in- 

 credible that so full and resonant a tone can 

 issue from so tiny a throat. For a few days 

 this was the finest songster in the Park, rival- 

 ling the white-throated and the fox sparrows in 

 its delicious clearness ; but the bird made only 

 a flying visit, and was soon gone. Its greater 

 rarity, as compared with the "gold-crest," is 

 largely due to the fact that, whereas the latter is 

 a winter resident, the former spends the winter 

 farther south, and is seldom to be seen except 

 in its semi-annual transit. 



I have also heard from the '^ gold-crest " 

 what was more than a twitter, but less than a 

 song ; but either it does not awake to the fall 

 sense of its musical responsibility so early in the 



103 



