498 BULLETIN 2 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL IMUSEUM 



Voice. — Aretas A. SaUnders sends me the following study of the 

 song: 



"The song of the Louisiana waterthrush is a loud, high-pitched one, 

 exceedingly pleasing in its wild, sweet quality. Songs in my records 

 vary from 6 to 19 notes, averaging about 11. The song is distinctly 

 divisible into two parts. The first part consists of 2 to 4 rather slow 

 notes or slurs, usually on or near the highest pitch, the notes most 

 frequently being slurred upward. The second part consists of a series 

 of 3 to 17 very rapid, twittering notes quite variable in form but us- 

 ually descending in pitch. The average number of these notes is 8, 

 and they are delivered two to three times as fast as those of the first 

 part. The first part is distinctly sibilant and the second rather 

 chattery, with rarely any of the liquid consonants that characterize 

 the northern waterthrUsh. 



"The pitch of the songs varies from C sharp " ' to E ' ' ". Single 

 songs vary from two tones to an octave in range, averaging about three 

 tones. The song begins high and usually becomes lower at or near 

 the end. In all but 6 of my 49 records the first notes are on the highest 

 pitch. In 30 of the records the last note is the lowest. The pitch of 

 the rapid notes in the second part of the song is exceedingly variable, 

 rarely with two notes in succession on the same pitch. The pitch 

 varies up and down between single notes, though the general trend is 

 usually downward. 



"The song, in my timed records, varies from 2 to 31/5 seconds, but 

 several records that were not timed may have been somewhat longer. 

 The notes of the first part are delivered at a rate of only two or three 

 to the second, but those of the second part may be at a rate of six to 

 ten; however, individual notes in the second part vary in length, so 

 that the time is very irregular. 



"Louisiana waterthrushes sing abundantly when they first arrive. 

 As nesting starts the song is less frequent. I believe that individual 

 birds cease singing for a time, perhaps for the period of incubation. 

 In June the song seems to be longer and more elaborate. Most of my 

 June records have more notes than those of April and May. The song 

 ceases in late June, but I have too few records to give average dates. 

 It is sometimes revived in July, evidently after the molt." 



Albert E. Brand's (1938) records of frequencies in bird songs show' 

 the song of this species to be somewhat higher in pitch than that of 

 the northern waterthrush, the vibrations per second varying from 

 6,600 to 2,475, with an approximate mean of 4,000, about the average 

 of passerine song. 



Two impressions of the song are worth noting. Dr. Skutch says of 

 hearing it in a gorge near Ithaca, N. Y. : "A Louisiana waterthrush, 

 perching upon a twig of a hemlock tree far above the stream, was 



