864 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



birds were singing freely early in the morning. The next day I 

 retiu'ned at 1 :00 p.m. with two companions, and though we searched 

 diUgently for an hour and a half, we could not find or flush a single 

 sparrow. Returning at 5:00 p.m., we soon saw two singing males and 

 heard others in the distance. W. B. Robertson, Jr., writes me that 

 "on 16 May 1960 at Ochopee two birds sang until well past sundown." 



A rising wind will often cause the birds to stop singing. The heat 

 of midday also seems to be a deterrent. On the other hand, a cloud 

 passing over the sun or the cooling effect of a sudden shower will some- 

 times cause the birds, silent until then, to pop out of the grass and sing. 



Voice. — The Cape Sable sparrow has a number of short call or alarm 

 notes which it utters throughout the year. The most common sounds 

 to me like zup-zup-zup; another is a high-pitched, twittering zee-zee- 

 zee. Best known, however, is the territorial song of the male which 

 he usually gives from a perch on or near the top of a grass stem. 

 Both Howell (1932) and Sutton (in Holt and Sutton, 1926) speak of 

 hearing the song "coming apparently from well down in the thick 

 marsh grass," but this is contrary to my own experience and those of 

 other recent observers. W. B. Robertson, Jr., writes me: "All I 

 have seen on four trips to Ochopee sang from conspicuous perches 

 near the top of a tall stem." 



Howell (1932) states that "The ordinary song resembles that of the 

 other Seaside Sparrows, but seems to be simpler in character. I wrote 

 it at the time churr-buz-z-z-z, the last syllable accented and prolonged. 

 In this buzzing character it most resembled the song of the Dusky 

 Seaside (nigrescens) ." Sutton (in Holt and Sutton, 1926) transliterates 

 it as "d'le, d'le, d'le." To me the song sounds like churr-eee-e-e-e. The 

 final buzzmg note may be heard for some distance, a quarter mile or 

 so, and unless one is close enough to hear the rest of the song it may 

 easily be confused with the e-e-e-e note of the redwinged blackbird or 

 the call of one of the marsh frogs. When one is extremely close to a 

 singing bird, the song is preceded by two or more noticeable guttural 

 clicks. I have heard these same clicks from the dusky seaside sparrow. 



Compared to the songs of other seaside sparrows, that of mirabilis 

 seems to me most like that of nigrescens, but not quite as strongly 

 buzzing. W. B. Robertson, Jr., contributes: "H. Teter and I listened 

 to two sing at Ochopee for perhaps 45 minutes on 16 May 1960. We 

 were close enough to hear the introductory clicks distinctly. We were 

 impressed by the similarity to the song of the Dusky which we had 

 heard the day before near Titusville." The song of A. m. maritima 

 seemed somewhat similar as I heard it in marshes near Holgate, N. J. 

 The song of A. m. macgillivraii near Charleston, S.C., seemed to me 

 decidedly weaker, in fact a rather poor effort. I have heard juncicola 

 B,nd Jisheri only once each and can make no comparison. As I listened 



