382 BULLETIN 191, UNirilD STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



William Brewster (1933) describes it as "a sharp che-day, day, ver) 

 different from any note of the common Chickadee. * * * The ordinary 

 chirp is much louder and more petulant. Another note frequently 

 heard is a shai-p chip, chee-chce, chee sometimes preluded by a sharp 

 che-chit or chee-chit-chit." Again (1906) he writes it "a nasal, drawling 

 tchick, chee-day, day." 



A number of observers have heard this chickadee give a sweet, 

 warbling song of three or four notes, and considerable has appeared in 

 print about it. Other equally keen observers have failed to hear it. 

 Aretas A. Saunders writes to me: "I am inclined to think that the 

 brown-capped chickadees have no notes that correspond to the 'phoebe' 

 note of the black-capped chickadee. I have seen quite a bit of the 

 Acadian chickadees in the Adirondack Mountains, and Hudsonian 

 chickadees in l-Iontana, but have never heard a song of any kind from 

 them." 



Mr. Brewster (1906), afcer mentioning some published accounts of 

 the song, v/rites: "I have never heard anything of the kind from the 

 Kudsonian Chickadee, although I am reasonably familiar with that 

 species, having had abundant opportunities for studying its notes and 

 habits in the forests of nortliern New England where I have met with it 

 on many different occasions and duruig every month of the year ex- 

 cepting April." 



If two such experienced and keen observers have failed to hear the 

 song, it must be of rather rare occurrence. 



Tovvnsend and Allen (1907) add to the discussion and quote Dr. 

 Townsend's description of a song, heard at Cape Breton Island in 

 August 1905 : "It was a lou-, bubbling, warbling song, which I vainly 

 attempted to describe in my notes. It began with a pset or tsee; fol- 

 lowed by a sweet but short warble." 



Francis H. Allen (1910) gives a number of references to iniblished 

 accounts of the song, and then adds his own observation, made on 

 Mount Moosilauke, N. H,, September 29, 1909: "I observed it for 

 some time at close range ar.d heard it sing again and again. The song 

 v-as a short one but took tv'O or more forms, one of which I set down, 

 at the time as bearing some slight resemblance to the syllables 

 ivissipatviddJec, though this rendering conveys no clear impression of 

 its warbling quality. The final syllable was sometimes trilled and 

 sometimes pure. It seemed to me that the song corresponded exact!}' 

 to the phoehe song of the Black-capped Chickadee (P. africapillus). 

 but it was also strangely su^!:;estive of the song of Bicknell's Tlirush !" 

 Field nwrks. — The Acadir.n chickadee bears a general resemblance to 

 our common chickadee, but it can be easily recognized by its brown in- 



