BOBOLINK 43 



plete songs, and 5 other records of the beginnings of songs. From 

 these records I find the number of notes in a song varies from 18 to 43, 

 averaging 27. The length of the songs varies from 2% to 4% seconds. 

 The range in pitch is from E flat " to B '", or ten tones. Single 

 songs range from 3% to 8 tones, averaging about 6 tones. 



"In 9 records the first note of the song is the lowest in pitch, and 

 in 11 the first note is next to the lowest, the second note lowest. In 

 9 songs the last note is the highest in pitch, and in 6 songs the last 

 note is next to the highest. Often, in the middle of the song a group 

 of 2 to 4 notes is repeated two or three times in rapid succession. 



"The beginning notes of the song are loud and rich in quality, but 

 this richness seems to decrease as the song progresses, probably 

 because as the notes become higher, the number of overtones that 

 are low enough to affect the human ear decrease. To the bird it is 

 quite possible that the quality is just as rich at the end as at the 

 beginning. 



"Consonant sounds, such as liquids like the letter L and explosives 

 like K or T, are common throughout the song. 



"The season of song lasts from the arrival of the birds in early May 

 (in Connecticut) to the early days of July. They evidently sing on 

 the spring migration. On May 5, 1944, the day I saw the first 

 bobolinks of that year, 10 male birds flew north over a woodland, and 

 several were in full song as they flew. Only in the last 5 years have I 

 been where I could observe the cessation of song in this bird. The 

 date when the species as a whole had ceased singing averaged July 4, 

 the earliest July 2, 1943, and the latest July 8, 1942. The date on 

 which the last individual was heard to sing averaged July 9, the 

 earliest July 2, 1943, and the latest July 18, 1942. 



"Bobolinks have number of short call notes. I have written some 

 of these, in the field, as tschick and tchow and pink. A three-syllable 

 call is tcheteeta and, when repeated several times, it suggests the flight 

 notes of a goldfinch. The pink note is commonly heard in late 

 summer and fall, and is used by birds flying southward in fall migra- 

 tion." 



Francis H. Allen writes to me: "In August a continuous warbling 

 song may sometimes be heard from a flock feeding in grain fields. It 

 seems to be formless, though at times it is suggestive of the regular 

 song of the breeding season. On August 5, 1917, I heard snatches of 

 the full song from a bird in Vermont." 



Du Bois (MS.) writes of notes that he heard about the nest: "The 

 female, agitated, utters her quick, quick, quick. The male, also much 

 concerned, says chow, or chaup, in a pitch lower than the female's 

 quick. As I moved away from the nest, or stood still at a little 

 distance, he exclaimed: Gee,whiz-ic\, repeating it several times in his 



