>8Ss.] Bicknell on the Singing of Birds. 2C3 



The Crow Blackbirds. 



The Grackles are unaccountably erratic in their visitation to 

 my neighborhood, and my notes on their vocalization are meagre 

 and unsatisfactory. 



It may be said, however, speaking of the Crow Blackbirds 

 broadly, without distinction between the Purple and the Bronzed 

 varieties, that they are to be numbered with the birds which have 

 their voice in the autumn. I have heard their squeak}- song-notes 

 in October, as late as the 23d. 



Corvus frugivorus. Crow. 

 Cyanocitta cristata. Blue Jay. 



With these birds there appears to be little relation between the 

 use of the voice and the seasons. 



The Blue Jay seems disposed towards quiet in the breeding 

 season, particularly in the vicinity of its nest, and is most noisy 

 during its migrations in autumn. 



The cawing of Crows belongs to all seasons.* 



Tyrannus carolinensis. Kingbird. 



♦ 

 From the time of its arrival on through the season of family 

 cares this bird's notes are louder and more frequent than later in 

 its stay. But the Kingbird does not easily hold its peace under 

 annoyance, and its harsh twitter constantly breaks forth in those 

 dissensions which are ever rising between the irritable birds when 

 they are flocking in the late summer preliminary to departure. 



But at this season their notes are usually much abbreviated, for 

 their voices are declining ; and when the great body of the little 

 combatants have fought their last fight and departed, which is 

 about the end of August, it is the exception if the loiterers that 

 continue to be met with are not mute. 



* I regularly hear the strange croak of the Fish Crow {Corvus maritimus) from early 

 spring until summer. The boundary dates of my record are February 22 and August 

 15 ; but I do not often hear the bird after May. Whether it is absent through the late 

 summer, autumn, and winter, or is present but silent during this time, lies beyond my 

 observation. 



