WARBLICR SONGS. •!:$ 



"Water-Thrush. Sciio-us //oirdoraccj/s/s. (>7."). 



I shall not .soon forget the an*xious days and nij^hts that 

 this water sprite caused me before I could rightly .say that I 

 had .seen him singing. The .song was burned into my mem- 

 ory: S7cect sweet Sivect chu-chu-'i.ccc-cliH ■ . The 



first three .syllables strongly accented and staccato, the last f(nir 

 short and run together into one phra.se, the next to the last a 

 third or more higher. Occasionally' one sang to to chc-7cc chc- 

 icc chc. . ■ ■ The first two indi.stinct, the third, fifth 



and last strongly accented and a .sixth higher, the fourth and 

 .sixth a little lower than these. Both .songs are high pitched, 

 clear, liquid whi.stles that carry far. 



The Water-Thru.sh comes to northern Ohio near the first 

 of May, and sings during his stay of three weeks. On his 

 return early in September he is .singing as vigorou.sly as wlien 

 he departed, for aught I can tell. 



I have heard the song only in wet brushy places, prefera- 

 bly low woods or brushy clearings. The bird has .sometimes 

 been seen in wooded uplands. One regularly vi.sits a wet tan- 

 gle well within the village of Oberlin. 



From Illinois eastward, north to Arctic America. From 

 Illinois west to the Pacific coast the form becomes 



Grinnell's Water-Thrush. Sciurus iiovebonnoisis 

 iiotabi7/s. ()7r)a. 



Louisiana Water-Thrush. Seiii/ns i/iofacitla. ()7(). 



The ordinary .song is, to my ear, a .series of double .sylla- 

 bled, clear, ringing whistles, followed b}^ a soliloquizing twitter. 

 It is a thrilling burst that is startling and wild. The proper 

 accompaniment is a wild, wooded glen in which a stream tum- 

 bles over its rocky bed. 



Like the Water-Thrush, this species has two .song periods, 

 the fir.st clo.sing late in June or earh* July, the .second begin- 

 ning early in August. I have heard the passion .song in 

 August al.so. 



West to the Plains, north to southern Michigan and .south- 

 ern New F^ngland, ca.sually to Lake George. 



The passion song of the water thrushes are so much alike 

 that a description of one will serve for all. There is in each 



