1648 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



spurs differ in movements and in song pattern. Both species fly 

 gradually upward, their wings beating rapidly. From the peak of the 

 ascent McCown's proceeds to sail downward abruptly with wings 

 held stiffly outstretched and raised high above the back. The 

 Chestnut-collared, after reaching the peak of the ascent, prolongs the 

 flight by circling and undulating, finally descending with the wings 

 beating as rapidly as before. Both species sing after the ascent, but 

 the song of the McCown's is louder with the notes uttered more slowly." 



The chestnut-collar does not use the flight song as often as the 

 McCown's does, nor does his performance appear as formal. The 

 McCown usually nests on flat, open places such as very sparse prairie 

 or plowed, summerfallow fields where it must make frequent, short 

 song flights to advertise its presence. The chestnut-collared's 

 habitat is usually well supplied with song perches from which the 

 singing male is easily seen. 



D. J. Borror (1961) found the pitch range in the chestnut-collared's 

 song to vary between 2,300 and 6,500 cycles per second. He gives 

 the following comprehensive description of the song: 



The song is loud, rather musical, somewhat similar in quality to the song of 

 the western meadowlark, and is generally 2 to 2.5 sees in length. It consists of 

 5 to 10 (usually 7 or 8) phrases uttered 3 to 4 per sec; the phrases may contain 

 from one to several notes. The 3 or 4 introductory phrases contain clear notes, 

 and are of decreasing pitch; the final phrases are usually buzzy. The first phrase 

 or two of the song are usually quite weak. The phrases are not repeated in a 

 given song, but some phrases contain repetitive elements. The songs of a given 

 bird are essentially alike, differing only in the character of the final weak phrases; 

 the songs of different birds usually contain slightly different phrases. 



I was pleased to see that Borror disagrees with the earlier published 

 accounts that seem to follow Coues' (1903) description of the song 

 as "weak and twittering." From the inside of a blind, the song of 

 a bird singing on the roof can be deafening! I could distinguish no 

 difference between the songs given in flight and those while perched. 



The male chestnut-collared spends a great deal of his time singing. 

 Throughout the nesting season song continues from one hour before 

 sunrise until shortly after sunset with little regard to the weather. 

 The only significant break occurs when the nestlings get so large 

 that most of his time and energy is taken up with providing food for 

 them. At one nest, however, the male was still singing 54 times 

 per hour when the young died eight days after hatching. 



Harris (1944) gives the following accurate account of other notes: 

 "The common call note is a til-lwp or til-lip (the accent on the first 

 syllable), sometimes lengthened to til-lil-lip. It is a general flocking 

 and flight note, and in the breeding season it seems to express anxiety. 

 The usual alarm note is a whistled wheer, used mostly by the male. A 



