October 



notes were thrown back and forth so reahstically 

 that I could not possibly tell whether he was 

 behind or before me; and again, when looking 

 for the source of that insect-like tone that proved 

 to come from the black-poll warbler — 



" A sound so fine, there's nothing lives 

 'Twixt it and silence," — 



but seeming to emanate from all directions, I 

 went backward and forward and all around, at 

 my wits' end, until by accident I looked up- 

 ward ; and there he was, hopping about on a 

 branch directly over my head. 



Many birds have what singers call " great 

 carrying power " in their voices, so that until 

 one is familiar with a bird's tone, he is likely to 

 be very much deceived as to its volume and 

 distance. 



The record of observations in October is com- 

 monly briefer than that for September, for the 

 most numerous family — the warblers — have most- 

 ly passed south ere this, and some of the other 

 families are only scatteringly represented. The 

 swarms of migrants sailing north and south each 

 spring and fall are much like myriad leaves 



279 



