220 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL IVIUSEUM 



While watching a pair at their nest building, Dr. Merriam (1917) 

 saw a female on the ground gathering material; she "was attacked 

 by a Junco and after a chase the Junco actually caught and held her. 

 At this commotion the male Cape May flew down and lit close by 

 but took no active part in the argument. The Junco was apparently 

 victor for after one more flight to her nest the female Cape May was 

 not again seen to trespass on the Junco's territory or do any more 

 nest building that morning." However, in his notes from West Vir- 

 ginia, Dr. J. J. Murray says that "this warbler is more active and 

 restless in its feeding than any of our warblers, except possibly the 

 myrtle ; and it is also noisier and more aggressive in its attitude toward 

 other warblers which seek to share its feeding places." Harlow also 

 says that "the male Cape May is the tiger of the north woods in de- 

 fending his territory. He attacks all birds that come close to the 

 nest, up to the size of the olive-backed thrush, and is absolutely 

 fearless." 



Voice. — Aretas A. Saunders sends me the following note on the 

 song of this warbler: "I have had few opportunities to study the 

 song of the Cape May warbler, and have only five records. These 

 show that the song is weak, high-pitched and somewhat sibillant. The 

 notes are mainly all on one pitch, in even rhythmic time and from 

 eight to eleven in number. They are pitched on E"" and ¥"". Two 

 of the songs have one or two notes, near the end, a half-tone higher 

 in pitch than the others. The songs are from 1% to 2 seconds in 

 length." 



Francis H. Allen (MS.) heard one singing and feeding in some 

 Norway spruce in West Roxbury, Mass., on May 10. "He had chip 

 notes very much like a familiar note of the chipping sparrow. (I 

 have also recorded a prssp like that of the blackpoll warbler but 

 fainter and sometimes doubled.) This bird had a variety of songs. 

 The simplest one resembled the black and white warbler's song and a 

 short simple song of the redstart, but was thinner and harder in 

 quality than the latter. Then there were other, more elaborate songs, 

 some divided into two parts and some into three. Two or three times 

 he sang several times with no pauses between, making what was prac- 

 tically a long continuous song. The chief characteristic of the songs, 

 I should say, was short and staccato double notes, the latter part of 

 which were very high-pitched. These repeated several times formed 

 the simplest of the songs. The song in three parts reminded me of 

 that of the Tennessee warbler, but was higher pitched and not so full 

 and loud. The bird had long periods of silence, but sang freely when 

 he did sing." 



Brewster (1938) says that "the song of this Warbler is harder — or 

 at least sharper and more penetrating — than that of either the Bay- 



