PAPERS ON ZOOLOGY 175 



singer to make sure. It took me four years to identify oue 

 song, that of the white-crowned sparrow. Both song and 

 bird had long been familiar to me ; but it took that long to 

 make the very necessary connection between the two. 



Undoubtedly the finest singer we have here is the wood 

 thrush, a veritable prince of birds. His song is not long or 

 elaborate, but in quality of tone it is peerless. Such clear, 

 bell-like notes ! Each short phrase of purest music tlie bird 

 sings is followed by a curious sort of trill which cannot be 

 indicated by notes and which wellnigh defies imitation. 

 Sara Teasdale best describes the wood thrush's song when 

 she says : 



"I heard a wood thrush in the dusk 

 Twirl three notes and make a star — "* 



The ''three notes" (sometimes four — sometimes five) 

 are as clear and ringing as a bell, but the "star" defies 

 transcription. ( Ex. 23 ) . 



Another bird whose notes are loud and clear is the tufted 

 titmouse, whose whistle, so it is said, has been known to 

 fool a dog. This small bird can make himself heard a long 

 way off. (Ex. 24-.5). The unpretentious song of his kins- 

 man, the chickadee, contains but two clear notes. The 

 chickadees are winter residents and one hears their two- 

 note song very early in the year. Hence people come to me 

 in January or February to announce that the pewees are 

 back — they "heard one today I" As pewees are flycatchers, 

 and as flies don't usually fly so early in the season in this 

 climate one is forced to break it to them gently that what 

 they heard was not the call of a pewee. but the song of the 

 chickadee. (Ex. 26-29). 



The callnotes of birds are always interesting, for in 

 these they carry on their conversations and soliloquies and 

 express their private emotions generally. The calls used 

 to express anxiety, fear, and sorrow are very appealing. 

 The fear call of a brown thrasher would surely melt the 

 heart of anyone who heard it. But who hears it? That is 

 the trouble — we don't hear I One can often trace family 

 relationships in callnotes, such as the blackbird's "chack," 

 the redwing's "chuck," and the oriole's "check." The 

 meadow lark and the redwing have a call of a single clear 



