TENNESSEE WARBLER 83 



alarm started them off. The flight lasted over two hours, and, during this time, 

 upward of 300 birds were seen from our camp. Two specimens, a male and a 

 female, were collected. The ovaries of the female contained eggs only slightly 

 developed. 



Voice. — Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following : "The song of 

 the Tennessee warbler is a rapid series of short, loud, unmusical notes. 

 It has been compared to the song of the chipping sparrow, but it varies 

 more in pitch, time, and loudness, and is distinctly in two or three 

 parts. To my ear it is much more like the chippering of a chimney 

 swift. 



"In 35 records of this song, the number of notes varies from 9 to 25, 

 the average being 17. Only one song has a true trill in it, that is, notes 

 bo rapid that they cannot be counted. Each song is of either two or 

 three parts, each part composed of a series of notes on the same pitch 

 and in uniform rhythm. The parts differ from each other in pitch, 

 time, or loudness. In a number of songs, one of the parts is a repeti- 

 tion of 2-note phrases. Loudness generally increases to the end of 

 the song, but sometimes the reverse is true. Some songs rise in pitch 

 to the end and others fall ; my records are about evenly divided in this 

 matter. A typical three part song would be something like 



tU it it it it it it vita pita pita pita pita chit chit chit chit chit. 



"Pitch varies from G'" to E"", or four and a half tones. Single 

 songs vary from half a tone to three and a half tones, averaging one 

 and a half. The length of songs varies from 1% to SVs seconds. An 

 individual bird may sing a dozen different variations of the song in a 

 short time. On the other hand, I have heard three birds in one tree 

 singing alternately, the songs of all three being exactly alike so far as 

 my ear could determine." 



Francis H. Allen gives me his impression of the song as follows : 

 "The song bears some resemblance to that of the Nashville warbler, 

 but is easily distinguished. I have written it 



wi-chip ici-chip wi-chip un-chip, ici-cliip wi-chip chip chip chip chip chip chip chip. 



The higher notes in the middle sometimes appear to be monosyllables, 

 and they are sometimes omitted. The series of chips at the end are 

 very emphatic, and the last one is perhaps accented somewhat. All 

 the notes are staccato." 



Various other renderings of the song have appeared in print, but 

 they all give the same impression of a variable, loud, striking song 

 which, once learned, can be easily recognized. The bird is a very per- 

 sistent singer rivaling the red-eyed vireo in this respect. Bowdish 

 and Philipp (1916) write: "As a basis for estimating the frequency 

 of song repetition, counts were kept on three singing birds for a period 

 of 5 minutes each, with a result of 32, 36, and 22 songs, respectively, 



