172 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OP SCIENCE 



oriole plays the flute proper, while the meadow lark plays 

 the piccolo. The less conspicuous orchard oriole is a 

 sweeter singer than his brilliant cousin, his song being 

 more connected, as well as more delicate and lyrical. It is 

 quite difficult to transcribe. The Baltimore is a beauty, 

 and we love to hear him when he first returns from the 

 south. But after a time his song grows a bit wearing. It 

 is so insistent. The flute is necessary and lovely in the 

 orchestra; but few of us care to listen to prolonged flute 

 practice. One does not tire of the orchard oriole's song, 

 however. (Ex. 17-19). 



The song of the robin is rollicking and clear and definite 

 for the most part — broken up into boisterously uttered 

 (sometimes shrieked or yelped) fragments. (Ex. 20-22). 

 The rosebreasted grosbeak has a lovely, smooth, musical 

 voice, like the "divine Sarah," and its song is a delicious, 

 melodious warble. Like its relative, the cardinal gros- 

 beak, both male and female birds sing. Indeed, the rose- 

 breasts are the most "advanced" birds of my acquaintance. 

 Both parents share the duties of home-making and incuba- 

 tion, and their young are quite the most helpless with 

 which I have had any experience; but that is another 

 story ! However, we have in the above biological proof of 

 the very high state of civilization the rosebreast has 

 reached. 



Some give high praise to the song of the scarlet tanager, 

 which somewhat resembles that of the robin and Balti- 

 more oriole, though less musical than either. It has the 

 acrid quality of the martin's notes. But one should not 

 require a fine voice of a bird which, like the peacock, is so 

 incomparably lovely. 



The cardinal is one of our dearest singers. His song is 

 as jaunty as his appearance. His most common songs are 

 the rapidly repeated two-note phrase (the notes usually a 

 fourth apart) and the clearly whistled "wheet-tew-tew- 

 tew-tew" song. I once heard a cardinal sing the two-note 

 phrase seventy times without stopping. His audience was 

 quite out of breath long before he had finished. These two 

 songs of the cardinal are very easy to identify, although 

 they by no means exhaust his possibilities. He sings many 

 variations and sometimes fools the trained listener. When 

 in the slightest doubt about a bird song, always see your 



