2 W ARBITER vSONCiS. 



manuscript descriptions has been second only to the task of 

 determining in each case what must be allowed as a margin 

 for the personal equation of the describer, and how much must 

 be allowed for variation in the species. No intelligent com- 

 parison of' the several descriptions could be made without a 

 fairly satisfactory solution of these two difficulties. The 

 method has been to select some species whose songs are clearlj' 

 distinctive and not seriously variable. Three were selected : 

 Oven-bird, Maryland Yellow-throat and Black-throated Green 

 Warbler. The variation among the individual describers, 

 when determined, will give the variation of the species. 



There must be a large margin for mistakes allowed, par- 

 ticularly^ with the species whose songs are not personally 

 known to the writer. A little study of ones notes in successive 

 years will serve to show that we are prone to variations in our 

 methods of representing the same songs from year to year, 

 allowing as much as we please for variations of the individuals 

 composing the species. The way our ears hear bird songs is 

 often deterrhined by our digestion. But there is always the 

 possibility of finding an average for the whole series of notes. 

 That has been the writer's effort in the body of the paper — to 

 present the average of all notes of equal value. 



Five years of teaching Ornithology in Oberlin College to all 

 sorts of students, serve to show that descriptions of color 

 patterns and habits are not adequate to the task of bringing 

 this assemblage of small birds to the notice of the average 

 person who becomes interested in birds. The song seems to be 

 the missing link in the chain of acquaintance. Both the e3'e 

 and the ear must be educated if one would learn the birds, and 

 my experience indicates that the ear is the readier learner. Is 

 that probably due to a tendency to color-blindness, or to weak 

 eyesight on the one hand, and to a long series of unconscious 

 ear training, on the other? 



It is to the class of bird students who hope to find pleas- 

 ure in acquaintance wdth the Warblers, rather than to those 

 who already know them that this paper is addressed. It is 

 hoped that by arranging the species in groups according to 

 greater or less resemblance to each other it will enable the 

 student to give special attention to one group before at- 

 tempting the larger study of the whole group, thus some- 



