234 BULLETIN 19 7, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



in the same locality from day to day, and in spite of the great varia- 

 tion in the song, two different individuals often sing the same song. 



"I have 105 records of the song, but two are duplicates of others, 

 so that the collection contains 103 different songs. It seems quite 

 probable that many more than this could be recorded. In a number 

 of my records I have recorded the fact that two different birds sang 

 the particular song. 



"The pitch of the song varies from D"" to F#", two tones less than 

 two octaves, but the greatest range of one individual is 5l^ tones, half 

 a tone less than one octave. The greatest range in any single song is 

 four and a half tones, from A"' to C"\ 



"The song period begins with the arrival of the bird in the spring 

 and continues to early August, my average last date being August 8. 

 But I have but four years of records, having been out of the breeding 

 range of the species many summers. The song is revived after the 

 molt, in late August or September, vay dates varying from August 

 30, 1917, to September 20, 1907, and the last song averaging Septem- 

 ber 9. I have records at this season for ten years, but in a good many 

 years have heard no singing at this season." 



Francis H. Allen gives me a record of what he considered "to be 

 a somewhat unusual song, heard in Dover, Mass., in 1903 — chip-dd- 

 chip-a-ivheeoo-chip, the second syllable nasal and 'catty'. I used to be 

 in the habit of rendering the song as pip-i-tweeo, who-are-you. Be- 

 sides the regular and distinctive song, the white-eyed vireo some- 

 times gives various catbirdlike or chatlike chips, chucks, and mews 

 that seem to form a part of the song performance." 



An almost countless number of various renderings of the songs of 

 this versatile performer, mostly more or less similar to those men- 

 tioned above, have been written by other observers. Som.e have ]out 

 them into words, such as the following from Robert Ridgway (1889) : 

 "In Bermuda they are interpreted as '■gingerheer, — quick,'' while in 

 Illinois the writer has heard them translated by boys into '■chicVty- 

 heaver, — Ihn'her, stick, with special emphasis on the first syllable of 

 each word." Both of these seem to be very expressive. 



The white-eyed vireo has quite a reputation as a mimic, but whether 

 the fancied imitations are really copied from other birds, or whether 

 they are only demonstrations of the bird's own talents as an accom- 

 plished vocalist, is open to question. We may hear such a volume 

 of varied songs coming from the hidden depths of some dense thicket, 

 that it would seem as if many kinds of birds were competing in chorus. 

 Ralph Hoffmann (1901) has "heard it give i\\Q chi p-churr of the Tan- 

 ager and the dick-you of the Chewink." Mr. Forbush (1929) gives it 

 credit for "fairly good fragmentary imitations of songs or notes of 

 the Song Sparrow, Robin, Flicker, Catbird, House Wren, Goldfinch, 

 Whip-poor-will, Yellow-breasted Chat, House Sparrow, Towhee, 



