THE OOLOGIST. 



151 



^ we pas3 close to a cock, Bob-White 

 which heralds that he is bob-bob white, 

 from the top of the fence. Very few 

 strollers are aware that this species 

 says bob twice, but those who observe 

 at close quarters will detect it at once 

 though the first bob is so indistinct as 

 not to be heard at a distance. Passing 

 through a dense piece of woods, a num- 

 ber of Acadian flycatchers are seen and 

 their notes kee peek tip are heard all 

 about. Above, in the shady top of a 



w^ree a Wood Pewee is pourning forth 

 his meloncholy refrain, pee-hce-o-ivee- 

 bee-wee\ slowly issuing with plaintive, 

 lingering quaver, which causes one to 

 think the dear little singer unhappy. 

 But it is not so, as it is its love song 

 and answers the same purpose as the 

 pathetic, resonant song of the happy 

 Mourning Dove. 



Emerging from the woods we listen 

 to the loud clattering song of the Balt- 

 imore Oriole in rivalry with the gush- 

 ing melody of the Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak. Both of these birds, as well as 

 the Indigobird near at hand have songs 

 that lit is impossible to describe on 

 paper. There are many songs of birds 

 which no power of the pen can describe 

 and we can truthfully say that the best 

 of bird melodies are those which can- 

 not be t'"ansferred to paper. This then, 

 is an acknowledgement that bird music 

 is of a superior quality, and the feath- 

 ered tribe is possessed of factors in the 

 realm of harmony which we are unable 

 to criticise. 



There are nearly fifty species of Mich- 

 igan birds which have songs of merit, 

 but if they were fully described, no one 

 not familiar with bird notes would rec- 

 ognize a bird by its song description. 



That there is an expression of feeling 

 in the notes of all of our birds no true 

 lover of our feathered friends will at- 

 tempt to deny. We are willing to ad- 

 mit the existence of a bond between 

 them and us, and this assumption of a 

 higher relation we do not care to 



have destroved or dispelled bv an 

 opinion against the sentiment of our 

 dear little associates. Nevertheless, 

 although I am anx'ous to invest these 

 creatures, "favorites of creation," as 

 Figuier so beautifully terms them, with 

 higher attributes of feeling and expres- 

 sion, it remains a fact that their notes 

 do not change in quality as a result of 

 change in emotion, so far as we are 

 able to judge. Let us consider some 

 instances. 



A pair of Robins will make a great ^/^ 

 outcry if their nest is mole-ted; the ex- 

 cited notes of the male corresponding 

 to the battle cry when the birds are 

 mating. Other Robins j nn the hue 

 and cry and the neighborhood of bird- 

 dom is aroused, for the birds under- 

 stand and all lend their sympathy and 

 bluster. If the nest is robbed the pair 

 quickly subsides, and the male will 

 probably be singing the same evening; 

 surely the next morning. Within a 

 few days a new nest is begun in the 

 same neighborhood or the old one is 

 again occupied, the song continually 

 proclaiming the joy of the happy pair, 

 so far as we can judge. 



I have carefully noted the actions of 

 the bereaved birds in many cases and it 

 is always about the same. In one in- 

 stance where a nest of the Warbling 1^^ 

 Vireo was robbed the male quickly re- 

 turned to the vacant nest and there 

 sang with the greatest joy apparently, 

 for it is the habit of the male of this 

 species to sing on the nest. It may be 

 that the song expressed sorrow, or at 

 least a complaint, but to me the same 

 ecstatic warble was heard that was 

 always given to my ears. I have 

 watched in the vicinity of the nests of 

 the Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak, Wood Thrush, Hermit 

 Thrush and Indigo- bird, all fine sing- 

 ers, and have observed that all appar- 

 ently quickly recovered from the ef- 

 fects of spoliation and sang within 

 twenty-four hours after. In each in- 



