MOURNING WARBLER 529 



several groups of rapid twitters. The bird rises from the ground 

 or a low perch, singing as it rises, terminates the song at a height 

 of about 20 feet, and drops silently back to the ground. 



"My records of 14 years in Allegany State Park, N. Y., show that 

 the song ceases in July, averaging July 14, the earliest date being July 

 7, 1932 and the latest date July 22, 1935. The song is sometimes revived 

 in August, especially the flight song." 



Francis H. Allen (MS.) sets the song down as ''^wee surree surree 

 surree surree^ with a falling inflection. Three or four thur-rees are 

 often followed by a pretty warble, which I once recorded as thur- 

 reedloo. Sometimes there are two or three introductory notes, and 

 a bird at Underbill, Vt., used to address my companion with a greeting 

 that sounded much like kiss me Charrlie,, Gharrlie^ Charlie. Birds 

 on the spring migration sang very distinctly wee-three wee-three we- 

 three. The song, in my experience, is always distinctive and easily 

 identified. A call or alarm note is a sharp, rough chip that seems to 

 be diagnostic." 



A. D. Du Bois (MS.) writes the song as ^^chooy^ chooy^ chooy^ choo- 

 choo-choo. The first three notes are alike, beginning at the same 

 pitch, and each slurred upward to the same extent." In some notes 

 sent to me a long time ago. Dr. Harrison F. Lewis records nine different 

 renderings of the song in syllables ; six of these are different combina- 

 tions of yeee^ yeee^ yeee^ churr^ cMirr^ churr^ varying from two to four 

 of each of the two syllables in the different songs ; others are yeee^ yeee^ 

 churry-urry-urry^ and three or four repetitions of the churry note. 

 The song reminded him of the songs of the house wren and Lincoln's 

 sparrow. I recorded it in Newfoundland in 1912 as we zrree^ we zrree^ 

 we zrree-u. Many other similar renderings have been published. 

 Wendell Taber refers in his notes to the persistent singing of a male 

 mourning warbler on its breeding grounds; he counted 49 songs in 

 12 minutes between 7:30 and 7:42 p. m., the songs being regularly 

 spaced. 



Field marks. — The mourning and MacGillivray's warblers are very 

 much alike, but the adult male of the latter has a white spot above 

 and another below the eye, which are lacking in the former. The 

 young male and the female of these two species are almost impossible 

 to distinguish, as the young mourning warbler has an indication of 

 an eye ring, but it has a shorter tail than the MacGillivray's. For- 

 tunately, the ranges of the two do not overlap to any great extent. 

 In some plumages, the mourning warbler resembles the Connecticut 

 warbler, though it is decidedly smaller, and the under tail coverts of 

 the latter are decidedly longer. The adult male mourning is dis- 

 tinguished by its black throat and by the absence of the white eye 



