60 BULLETIN 197, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



ties choruses of these birds may be heard and, to the lover of bird 

 music, the effect is exceedingly pleasing." 



Dr. Roberts (1932) gives a very good description of the song, quoted 

 from some notes of H. W. Gleason, as follows : 



At first could be heard three or four sharp "chips" with very decided intervals, 

 followed by a musical repetition of blended, very high-pitched notes sounding 

 like the jingling of a set of tiny sleigh-bells. The accented notes came in regular 

 beats or throbs and gradually diminished in volume until lost to the ear, re- 

 sembling a vei-y high, fine Veery song but lacking the inflection and given a little 

 slower. The birds being at such a great elevation while singing made it diffi- 

 cult to determine the coordination of the song and flight. It seemed, however, to 

 begin during a short sail on set wings, followed by an ascent in short flights like 

 the Horned Lark, during which came the throbbing part of the song. During the 

 sail the tail was spread and the wings upcurved like those of a singing Bobolink. 

 The song was repeated at short intervals for a period of 15 to 25 minutes as the 

 bird drifted around in wide circles. At the end it descended like a plummet, 

 spreading its wings when almost to the ground and alighting like a Horned Lark. 

 With the aid of a crude triangle and an assistant several rough estimates were 

 made of the height at which the bird sang, which varied from 210 to 325 feet, 

 with a minimum record of 110 feet during a misty rain. It would appear that 

 the average singing height is about 300 feet. 



Dr. Allen (1874) says: "Their notes resemble the syllables jingle^ 

 jingle^ jingle^ jingle^ rapidly repeated, beginning loud and high, and 

 decreasing rapidly in strength and loudness, and are remarkable for 

 their clear metallic ring, their song reminding one of the jingling 

 sound of a light chain when slowly let fall into a coil." 



Dr. Cones (1874) gives the following appreciation of the song: "No 

 other bird music heard in our land compares with the wonderful 

 strains of this songster ; there is something not of earth in the melody, 

 coming from above, yet from no visible source. The notes are simply 

 indescribable; but once heard they can never be forgotten. Their 

 volume and penetration are truly wonderful ; they are neither loud nor 

 strong, yet the whole air seems filled with the tender strains, and de- 

 lightful melody continues long unbroken. The song is only heard for a 

 brief period in the summer, ceasing when the inspiration of the love 

 season is over, and it is only uttered when the birds are soaring." 



Ernest Thompson Seton (1891) writes: 



On May 14, I watched a skylark that was singing on high with great devotion ; 

 he had trilled his refrain from beginning to end at least twenty times when it 

 occurred to me to time and count his songs. The whole of each trilling occupied 

 15 seconds, and after I began to count he repeated it from beginning to end 82 

 times ; .lust as he should have entered on the eighty-third, his wings closed, his 

 tail went up, and down he fell headlong. * * * This singer had serenaded 

 me for about an hour, and I do not think he ranked above his fellows in staying 

 power. * * * When the skylark feels the impulse to sing, he rises from the 

 bare prairie ridge with a peculiar bounding flight, like that of the pipit ; up, in 

 silence, higher and higher he goes, up, up, 100, 200, 300, 500 feet ; then, feeling 

 his spirits correspondingly elevated, he spreads his wings and tail and pours 



