108 NOKTHEKX YELLOAV-THKOAT. 



of about ten feet, then flutters obliquely downward, giving a 

 peculiar warbling note as it descends. This hovering song is 

 not, however, as musical as the vesper song of the Ovenbird, 

 in fact, althoup^h it varies somewhat with individuals, it is rath- 

 er harsh. It begins and ends abruptly. It is noteworthy that 

 the hovering songs of both of these species sometimes begin 

 with two or three notes of the call song. Besides these two 

 ways ()f singing, the Northern Yellow-throat, at least, gives 

 another peculiar series of notes. These are rapidly uttered 

 and closely resemble the clicking of the ratchet on the main- 

 spring of a watch when it has become detached from its escape- 

 ment and is running down. These are probably used as notes 

 of alarm or of warning, and although rather infrequently emit- 

 ted ordinarily, I have heard them given repeatedly during wet 

 weather. The bird while uttering them is almost alwavs whollv 

 concealed; thus I have never been quite certain whether they are 

 produced by one or both sexes. The chirp of alami is harsh, 

 rather more so than that of any other of our warblers. Indeed, 

 this harsh alarm note appeai-s to be characteristic of all other 

 members of the Yellow-throat genus which I have heard, five 

 or six in number, all natives of the Bahama Islands. While 

 this is true in reirard to the alarm notes, the songs of some of 

 these birds are ver}' sweet, and, although none of them are loud, 

 they have a penetrating quality that enables them to be heard 

 at a considerable distance. These songs also have a peculiar 

 intonation, which, although some differ greatly from that of 

 our species, recall at once the notes of the Northern Yellow- 

 throat. I have never heard the hovering song given b}- any of 

 the Bahama species. 



Migration and Breeding Range. The Northern Yel- 

 low-throat occurs in summer from northern New Jersey north- 

 ward to southern Labrador. It is common in winter in the 

 Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica, and from Eastern Mexico to 

 Guatemala, In migration it passes over the whole of the Uni- 



