EASTERN PURPLE FINCH 273 



"The warbling song, according to 21 records in my collection, 

 consists of from 6 to 23 notes. The notes are very rapid, and con- 

 nected, with no two in succession on the same pitch. Liquid con- 

 sonant sounds are common between the notes and connecting them. 

 There is great variation in the song. Each song by one individual 

 is likely to be followed, after a short pause, by another that is quite 

 different in its notes and the arrangement of them. If a bird ever 

 repeats one of these warbling songs again, exactly as it was, I have 

 been unable to detect it. The pitch varies, in my records, from C" 

 to C"". Songs vary in length from 1 to 3K seconds, and average 

 about seven notes to a second. It is heard chiefly from February to 

 April, but I have some records, from the Adirondacks, dated in July, 

 after the nesting was over. 



"The territory song is heard commonly from late April till July, 

 wherever there are breeding birds. It is quite different from the 

 warble. A few groups of notes in it are warbled, but there is a series 

 of rapid notes, all on the same pitch, near the beginning of the song, 

 and a high-pitched, strongly accented note, usually near the end. 

 The song does not vary in the individual, as does the warble, but is 

 the same in all details when repeated. When it is sung the birds are 

 not in flocks so that, ordinarily, only a single individual is heard at 

 one time. The bird often sings the song over and over, several times 

 in succession, without a pause, a habit that is also common to the 

 entirely unrelated ruby-crowned kinglet. I have 18 records of this 

 song. The pitch varies from E'" to D"", and the length from 

 2% to 3% seconds. But when the song is repeated over and over, 

 it is, of com'se, much longer than this. I once watched a bird singing 

 this repeated song in flight, holding its wings up at an angle and 

 floating in the air, somewhat after the manner of the flight song 

 of a longspur. 



"The 'vireo song' is the least common of the three, and is usually 

 to be heard in early March, or in late October or November. This 

 song is made up of phrases of two to five notes each, and these phrases 

 are alternated, with short pauses between them, in much the same 

 manner as red-eyed and yellow-throated vireos. The song is less 

 variable than any of the vireos, however, generally consisting of 

 three different phrases only. While usually a spring or fall song, 

 I once heard it in July in the Adirondacks, and then the bird singing 

 it was in the plumage of a female, though probably an immature male. 



"I have one record, from such an immature male, of a song of 

 primitive character — a mixtm^e of warbles, trills, and series of rapidly 

 repeated notes, lasting about 5 seconds and varying in pitch from 

 k'" to W". 



