VENTEILOQUIAL AND IMITATIVE POWER OF BIEDS. 69 



screech owl also softens its voice in the same way, with 

 the most beguiling mockery of distance." 



Most birds have themes or songs peculiar to their 

 own species, and when we have learned these Ave 

 recognize them whenever we hear them. I^ot so, how- 

 ever, of all. Even the common little gold finch {Spmtcs 

 tristis) wiU often utter a strain so new and strange that 

 those most familiar with it fail for a moment to recog- 

 nize the author. The purple finch {Carj)odacus pur- 

 purens) is also a variable singer. Some of his songs 

 are as soft and peaceful as those of the warbling vireo ; 

 others wild and sylvan as those of the wood-thrush or 

 winter wren, while still others are loud, sharp, and 

 harsh, with as little melody as the song of the indigo 

 bird. Their songs in different localities also differ so 

 greatly that to the uninitiated they may easily be 

 mistaken for those of other species. I remember a 

 remarkable performance of one of these finches. 

 While gathering rhododendrons in a wet woods near 

 Angola, I was surprised at a strange song that broke 

 the stillness of the quiet afternoon. It was low, sweet, 

 tremulous, running up and down in such quavers of 

 pure melody that for the moment I was sure that I was 

 listening to an unknown singer of rare power, and not 

 until I saw the bird could I believe that it was the 

 familiar purple finch. The young birds had but recently 

 flowm from the nest, and two or three of them, with 

 the old birds, were at times in the same tree. The 

 female w^as quite busy going and coming with food for 

 the young, while the male continued for a long time 



