BLTJE-WINGED WARBLER 63 



terval between the two notes varies from one tone to four and a half 

 tones, but the smaller intervals, one tone and one and a half tones, are 

 much commoner. The second note is lower in pitch than the first in 

 about 75 percent of my records, and higher in most of the others. In 

 a few songs the second buzz is a double note, and one may hear both 

 lower and higher notes from a medium distance, only the lower from a 

 greater distance, and only the higher when very near the bird. 



"The pitch is not high as compared to other warblers, ranging from 

 C ' ' ' to D ' ' ' ', one tone more than an octave. The territory song 

 commonly begins on some note from A ' ' ' to C ' ' ' '. It varies in 

 time from ly^ to 1% seconds, the first note being either equal to or 

 shorter than the second. The second note is often twice as long as 

 the first. In some songs the second note is broken into two notes, and 

 in one record it is in four short notes, so that the song is essentially like 

 that of the golden-winged warbler. 



"After the birds have been on the breeding grounds for a week or 

 two, singing of the nesting song begins. This song has the same buzz- 

 like quality as the other, but it is exceedingly variable, considerably 

 longer, and hardly ever twice alike. The song often begins with a 

 series of short notes, like tsit tsit tsit, or contains such notes somewhere 

 in the middle. There are usually long buzzes that change pitch by 

 slurring upward or downward. On one occasion, I found a bird that 

 sang a territory song and four different nesting songs. Often the 

 nesting song is sung in flight. By June this song is heard about as 

 frequently as the territory song, and in late summer, after the molt, 

 it is the one most commonly heard. 



"The song of this bird is heard from its arrival in spring until early 

 July, when it ceases for a time. It is usually revived in late July or 

 early August, and from then on may be heard fairly frequently until 

 the birds depart about the last of August." 



In his notes sent to Dr. Chapman, Burns describes the song as, "a 

 drowsy, locust-like, swe-e-e-e-e ze-e-e-e-e, the first apparently inhaled 

 and the last exhaled. * * * Another song heard on the first day 

 of arrival, on one occasion, uttered by several males in company, pos- 

 sibly transients here, and may be the mating song, suggests the 

 Chickadee's che-de-de-e, che-dee-e, and che-de-de-dee, uttered re- 

 peatedly in one form or other in excitement, and while running out 

 on the branchlets. The call and alarm note is a rather weak chip^ 

 Dr. Chapman (1912) records a longer song, heard later in the season 

 as ^^wee-chi-chi-chl-cM, chur, chee-churj'^ 



Francis H. Allen tells me that the final note, se-e-e-e-e, as rendered 

 by Burns, "is really a very rapid series of pips, as if the bird had 

 lips like ours and vibrated them by forcing the air through them — in 

 other words, giving a sort of avian Bronx cheer, but high in pitch. 



