WHAT BIRDS SAY AND SING 245 



breasted bird has not appeared to any extent in my 

 new location, nor do I hear his notes save very rarely 

 while in field work. He is conspicuously black and 

 white like the male chewink, but on his white breast 

 there is a splash of purplish blood-red. His call 

 note is a high "Chink!" which does not very well 

 describe the sound. He makes this cry extremely 

 emphatic when he is anxious about his mate and 

 eggs. His song is lovely, of even tone, continuous, 

 and of almost perfect rendition. These notes are 

 as difficult for an amateur to catch in pitch as the 

 song of any field bird I know. Experts agree as 

 to the attractive character of his song, although 

 they differ in its interpretation, several prominent 

 writers insisting that the bird warbles the notes, a 

 thing I never heard him do in a lifetime of closest 

 intimacy. I know the male bird to be as tender 

 and devoted to the female as is the mate of the 

 brooding dove. It may be for this reason that I 

 find his notes toned and inflected with sentiment; 

 for in much work with set cameras before the nest 

 of this bird it has been my experience that every 

 morning about ten o'clock he enters his nest and 

 patiently broods while his mate takes a bath and 

 finds her breakfast, about which she does not in 

 the least hurry herself, for very frequently she 

 fails to return before twelve and sometimes not 

 until one o'clock. 



Always beside the road and through the fields 

 we have "Bob White" calls, and on summer 



