1406 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 3 



masculine vigor, rather than delicate shades of sentiment, and on this account is 

 perhaps of a lower order than the pure, passionless hymn of the Hermit Thrush; 

 but it is such a fervent, sensuous, and withal perfectly-rounded carol that it 

 affects the ear much as sweetmeats do the palate, and for the moment renders 

 all other bird music dull and uninteresting by comparison. 



Contemporaneously C. J. Maynard (1882) describes the song as he 

 heard it on the Magdalen Islands as follows: "Its magnificent song 

 filled the clear still air with melody. These fine strains consist at 

 first of three clear rather rapid notes, given with increasing emphasis, 

 then a short pause ensues, and the remainder of the lay is poured 

 forth more deliberately, terminating with a well rounded note giving 

 finish to a sweet song, which for sweetness and clearness of tone is 

 seldom surpassed even by our best performers." 



S. D. Judd (1901) characterizes its singing as "utterly unsparrow- 

 like, a unique performance that seems not in the least akin to bird 

 music, but more like the soft tinkling of silver bells." Perhaps it 

 is its human quality that makes it so appealing, for as Robert T. 

 Moore (1913) notes, the fox sparrow "does not sing a note which a 

 human being cannot whistle." Moore made a special trip to the 

 Magdalen Islands in June and July of 1911 to hear the species sing on 

 its nesting grounds, and the following excerpts are from his musicianly 

 account of his experiences there: 



To me the Fox Sparrow stands out as the singer of joy. Many birds are of 

 this kind, but few are to such a degree as this inhabitant of the stunted woodlands 

 of the North. The musical construction indicates it, for instance the dancing 

 rhythm, the major keys, and the speed with which it fairly shoots through the 

 central phrase. But deeper than these are certain qualities in his physical being 

 and character, which make for happiness: his robustness and virility, his excessive 

 activity in all his waking hours. 



The song-sites of the Fox Sparrow are conditioned by his habitat. Wherever 

 there are low evergreens massed in dense clumps * * * there he will be found. 

 * * * out along their edges these sturdy finches are bound to be and will be heard 

 at all times of the day, be it sunlit or foggy. Each individual has his own particu- 

 lar clump and one or more song-sites in that clump, so that it is possible to go out 

 day after day and find the same songster and hear the same song. Sometimes his 

 favorite tree is five feet high and sometimes twenty, ordinarily it is ten, and 

 whatever its height, it is usually a spruce and is always on the edge of the 

 clump * * *. His favorite song-position on the tree is its tip. A point a foot 

 below may be chosen, but never the lower branches and by no means the ground. 



The last place is the region of his nest and from there no sounds are issued 

 except call-notes. These consist of two kinds quite different from each other and 

 neither musical. The most common is an explosive aspirate, which may be indi- 

 cated by the syllable "chech" and is as loud as the call of the Hermit Thrush. The 

 second is a fine, high-pitched note, which closely resembles the call of the Savannah 

 Sparrow. The former is heard much more frequently and in conjunction with 

 the latter is employed to protest against intrusion near the nest. 



* * * unlike the Song Sparrow, [each] Fox seems to have but one [song] and 

 is content to repeat it over and over, making slight additions at the height of the 



