30 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 
Island, only far more frequently. It is an everyday salutation there, as 
much as to say, ‘‘ Here I am, what do you want, ch?” It is pitched a little 
lower and modified to a tchip, when the birds are anxious about their nests, 
and when the males are quarrelling, or paying court to the females, it 
degenerates into a rolling chatter. None of these notes are loud, and the 
full song is not much to be proud of, musically considered; and yet, com- 
pared with that of the Savanna Sparrow, it is a more polished and tuneful 
effort. Those who know the song of this bird may gain some idea of that 
of the Ipswich Sparrow when I say that the song of prénceps is keyed a little 
lower and finished up with more of a trill. Analyzed, it consists of three 
parts, and usually occupies a short two seconds in its delivery. It begins 
with two or three rapid, introductory notes, thin, high-pitched, and slightly 
sibilant, occupying perhaps one quarter of the entire time; these are 
followed quickly by a prolonged, still more sibilant, grasshopper-like lisp, 
that consumes five eighths more of the time, and the song concludes, with- 
out pause, in a trill (keyed very like the note of the little tree-toad, Ayla 
pickeringiz), on the first part of which considerable emphasis is placed, 
the end fading out with interrogative inflection. Even in calm weather, 
the song is quite inaudible at a couple of hundred yards, but the trill, brief 
as itis, is heard further than any other part, and may be the only sound 
distinguishable. As you draw nearer, the sibilant portion is heard, while 
the introductory notes may not be audible until you arrive within a very 
few yards. A graphical representation of the song would be something as 
follows, the spaces between the vertical lines representing roughly quarters 
of a second: tsip- | tsip- | ?s | é- | & | & | & | pr-ré'-eah. The finishing 
trill is usually swung out with a vim, unlike the weaker, higher-pitched 
tinkle of A. s. savanna, and contrasts pleasantly with the thin, high notes 
and lisp that precede it. It is in this part of the song that individual singers 
vary most, differing in quality, force and length of tone not only from 
their neighbors’ efforts, but sometimes from their own. On the whole, 
there are few variations. Sometimes the number of introductory notes is 
increased or diminished, and sometimes the trill is litthke more than a musi- 
cal ripple and like an overflow of the sibilant note. This sad little chant 
is repeated several times in the minute, but rarely for more than a few 
minutes at a time, when the singer either seeks a new perch or devotes him- 
self for an indefinite period to the quest for food. They sing at irregular inter- 
vals, the favorite hour being at dusk, when you may often hear round about 
you as many as five or six, each pouring forth his mournful trill which seems 
in perfect keeping with the sombre surroundings. They are also more 
musically inclined in the early morning hours. They sang regardless of the 
fog, to which they are so well accustomed, nor did they, as is the wont 
