THE OOLOGIST. 



185 



greens of the islautl of MiR-kiiiac where 

 duriug the summer of 1800 lie oceured 

 ia unusual abundance. I knew that 

 the Magn(jlia Warljler should be found 

 tliere but it was only after two days' 

 search, when I was wandering along an 

 old unused road, almost lost in the 

 overhanging bushes, that I discovered 

 the bird. From the top of a low ever- 

 green a new note issued, pura pni-a 

 pura rcoo, a business-like song with a 

 strong metallic accent rising and fall- 

 ing in the last two syllables. I had no 

 difficult}' in finding the owner as he 

 frequently sallied forth, either to seize 

 a passing fly or t(j drive away some 

 audacious Redstart oi- other small bird, 

 for our friend is very pugnacious and 

 allows no intrusion on his chosen 

 domain. 



Having eaten his fill he flew to a 

 small dead sapling and devoted himself 

 exclusively to vocal ett'ort. While in 

 plain .sight he repeated the song just 

 mentioned two or three times in rapid 

 succession, pausing a few moments, 

 apparently to note the effect of his 

 M ords. I turned to leave, thinking the 

 performance over, when I heard a clear 

 falsetto whistle, dift'ereut in tone from 

 any bird-note I ever heard. Having 

 thus reclaimed my attention he gave 

 the second part of his varied rejxjrtoire, 

 a soft warble of the same falsetto tone 

 of voice, purra e hova, and I have at 

 last f(jund a warbler that warbles. But 

 this is not all, while hi>; hand is in he 

 intends to show oft" all his fine songs 

 before the reporter of the same, much 

 as the females of the human species 

 show oft' all their tine dre.'sses before the 

 reporter of a newspaper. After a 

 slight pause to enable me to jot it down 

 he utters a s\va\-^ xn-ut-ut-ut-nt-ut-ut in 

 the same falsetto tone. 



He evidently likes the ett'ect of this, 

 for he repeats it several times in a low 

 tone, comiuenting on it by a harsh dc 

 hay kny hty, like a minature Blue Jay. 

 What n)ore developements tlu'i-c would 



have been I am unable to say for at 

 that moment my dog, which I had left 

 carefully at home came bounding and 

 crashing through the bushes, putting 

 my pretty performer to flight. I have 

 heard the same songs singly many 

 times since, but never all from the 

 same bird. When in the deep ever- 

 greens and out of sight this talented 

 bird utters two quick, sharj) notes fol- 

 lowed by a warble of tiiree notes, the 

 middle the highest, prut prxd purrcoo . 

 In closing the list I Avill mention the 

 one least liable of all to be recognized; 

 issuing from the evergreens by the side 

 of the road, to careless ears it might 

 sound like the summer song of the Red- 

 start, chcioeech cheweech cheoo but the 

 dift'ereiice is very appreciable on com- 

 parison, for does not the Redstart say 

 wecchy wtcdiy wcccheoo'? 



Duriug migrations, as I have before 

 intimated, the bird is nearly silent, 

 being found amoBg the low evergreens 

 and tracts of scrub stuff". He seeks his 

 food among the twigs, and even on the 

 ground. Among other virtues he is 

 very punctual, the seventh of May is 

 the set time for his arrival in Kent 

 County and he is always on hand on or 

 near the appointed day. 



"All this talk about a biril with never 

 a word about its nest and eggs!" the 

 same someone remarks in surprise. 

 To be sure, many of our oologists think 

 altogether too much of the eggs and 

 never get bej'ond a bowing acquain- 

 tance, knowing the Ijird b}' sight per- 

 haps, as is nece.s.sary for the identifica- 

 tion of the eggs, but never taking the 

 time or trouljle to I)ec(mie really con- 

 ver.sant with his ways and songs. It 

 gives m<jre pleasure to a true bird lover 

 to diseoAer a new song of one of his 

 favorites than to tiud its nest and eggs. 



Now do nf)t gathei- from the preced- 

 ing lines tiiat I am not as enthusiastic a 

 collector as the best, a ucav skin or set 

 of eggs delights me as much as other 

 ])copli% but I think a colls-ction is of 



