rx) 



rilK VKI.I.c i\\-IIK\l)i:i) I'.I..\CKi:lUI). 



overcfmies yon, and yim retire. ii<it uitlmvit a cliasteiiecl sense '>l' privilege that 

 you liavc livcil In liear tlie VellMW-liead iKip the question. — "and also you 

 lived after." 



Tlie expirintj konieo cry is (|uite the linest nf the .\antlu>ceplialine re|)er- 

 torv, InU there are others not devoid of interest. Ok-cli-ah-oh-oo is a musical 

 series of startling brilliancy, comparable in a degree to the yodelling of a street 



urchin, ^a succession of .stumds of varying 

 pitches, produced as tlio by altering the oral 

 capacity. It may be noted thusij — ^-^r^ 

 The la.st note is esi^cially mellow \''i-,irl 

 and |)leasing. recalling to soiue 

 cars the licpiid gurgle of the I5ol)olink. to 

 which, of ci^urse. our bird is distinctly related. 

 .Alternating with the last named, and more 

 fre(|uently heard from the dcjuhs of the 

 nesting swamp is ^ur. gurrl; or. as oftenest. 

 ycwitnk). ycxci(iiL\). gur-gurrl. In this 

 l)hrasc the gurrl is drawn out with c<imical 

 effect, as tho the gallant were down on his 

 knees before some unyielding maiden. 



The Vellow-head's ordinary note of dis- 

 tru--t. e(|uivalent to the dhik note of the Red- 

 wing, is k'lticl; or koluck'. In flight this 

 ' ' ' • becomes almost invariably oo'kluk, oo'kluk. 



.\t rest, again, this is soiuetimes prolonged 

 into .1 thrilling passage of resonant "I" notes, probably remonstratory in 

 character. The alarm cry is built upon the same basis, and is uttered with 

 exceeding vehemence, klookoloy, klookcloy, klook ocooo. 



I'inally. if one may presume to speak finally of so versatile a genius, 

 they have a harsh. ras])ing note very similar in (piality to the scolding note 

 of the Steller Jay, only lighter in weight and a little higher in i)itch. This 

 is the note of fierce altercation, or the distress cry in imminent danger. 

 The last time I heard it was in the rank herlwge l)<>rdering upon a shallow 

 lake in Douglas County. I ru.shed in to find a big blow-snake coiling just 

 IkIow a nestful of young birds, while the agonized parents and sympathetic 

 neighlxirs hovered over the spot crying piteously. To stamp upon the reptile 

 was but the work of a moment: and when 1 dr<.i)|>ed the limp ophidian u[x^n 

 the bare gnnind. all the blackbird iKipulatii>n gathered alxnit the carcass, 

 shuddering but exultant, and — perhaps it was only fancy — grateful too. 



For all the Vellow-head is so deciilcd in utterance, in disposition he 

 is somewhat phlegmatic, the male bird cs|)ecially lacking the vivacity which 

 characterizes the agile Brewer Hlackl)ir(i. Except when hungry, or im- 



