VENTRILOQUIAL AND IMITATIVE POWER OF BIRDS. 65 



many rods. On looking through the bush tangled with 

 vines, I found the mate sitting on her nest of eggs. 

 The male, while singing to her, had been throwing his 

 voice to a distance, evidently to mislead intruders. It 

 was a clear case of ventriloquism exercised with a 

 motive, for as soon as he knew the nest was found he 

 flew to an oak some distance off and commenced a loud 

 rollicking song, moving about from limb to limb, doubt- 

 less hoping to divert my attention from the nesting 

 place. 



At least two of the wrens {Troglodytes aedoii and 

 Troglodytes Memalis) possess more or less ventriloquial 

 power. I remember how I once searched for a winter 

 wren that was singing in a cedar thicket. I heard the 

 song first on one side, then on another, always seeming 

 to be above me, when in reality the bird was all the time 

 on an upturned root of a little sapling, within plain 

 sight. Several times afterwards I heard this wren go 

 through a similar performance. 



In his " Eambles About Home," Dr. C. C. Abbott 

 relates a very interesting experience on this subject with 

 the yellow-breasted chat {Icteria mrens). " From the 

 branch of a tall locust a chat warbled a series of sweet, 

 liquid notes, then squealed like a squirrel and yelped 

 like a dog ; following this with a wild outburst of glori- 

 ous melody. While listening and wondering what next 

 would greet my ears, I was surprised and startled by 

 hearing the same strange sounds repeated, but at some 

 distance off. Another chat farther down the path was 

 singing in the same strange way. Another it must be, 



