WARHLlvR SOXf.S. 41 



Yello'w-breasted Chat. Ictcria virois. (iS.'). 



The song of the Chat is unique, not merely in this group, 

 l^ut in the whole class of birds. It is ventriloquil to a marked 

 degree, but it possesses a timbre all its own. It would be far 

 more proper to call the Chat's a performance rather than a 

 song. To the uninitiated he appears to imitate every other 

 sort of bird in the woodland, from the Crow and hawk to the 

 .sparrows ; but to one familiar with him the Chat appears in it 

 all. The imitation is not perfect, but approximate. Mr. 

 Burns gives the best syllabled description of the describable 

 part of the performance that I have seen : cop ! chick ! cock ! 

 cJiack ! CO-CO-CO-CO-CO-CO., the fir.st .softly, .second, third and 

 fourth emphatically, the remainder loudly and rapidly. 

 There is usually a considerable pause between each of the first 

 four syllables. There is endle.ss variation in the performance, 

 but the.se syllables are conspicuous and form a large part of 

 the so-called .song proper. While the Chat's range of imita- 

 tion embraces nearly every voice of the woodland, he does not 

 attempt an elaborate imitation, but rather snatches here and 

 there from such parts as be.st suit his purpose. 



The " flight song" of this .species is apparently not a pas- 

 sion .song at all, but rather comparable to the broken wing 

 tactics of .so many birds, or to the pitiful undone flutter of 

 Killdeer, since danger .seems necessary to call it forth. You 

 have been cautiously .searching hither and yon for a bird that 

 ought to be attached to that voice, but all in vain, wdien you 

 suddenly become aware of a loose bundle of feathers appar- 

 ently suspended in the air above you, jerking like a witch and 

 gradually settling down ; while the air .seems filled with a 

 most bewildering medley of every sort of bird voice. You 

 are too near his nest. 



While performing, the bird remains well concealed high up 

 in the foliage of .some small tree, or in a thicket, but he will 

 umnask if approached unawares. He is wary and alert. His 

 favorite haunts are the bru.shy thickets bordering woods, or 

 brier thickets with a few small trees. 



He is one of the few night singers, singing at all hours of 

 the night, but less frequently from twelve to two. It is no 

 dreamv performance, but a wide-a-wake intentional .song that 

 rinars and rings again on the still air. 



