414 McClintock, a Hermit Thrush Study. [qcu 



out of sight and the young were uneasily testing their growing 

 strength by moving about the nest, spreading their wings, stretch- 

 ing their legs and opening wide their mouths. Suddenly, from the 

 adjacent swamp, came this wiry note of warning. Instantly, the 

 three young closed their conspicuous yellow lined mouths, dropped 

 to the bottom of the nest and remained motionless. Later that 

 day I again saw the same thing repeated. 



A third note, which this pair of Hermits used signified extreme 

 distress. This note sounded to me much like the note of a hoarse 

 Canary. I can best describe it by the word boyb, spoken slowly 

 and with a rising inflection. The note also reminded . me of the 

 mew of a kitten. Boyb was uttered by the thrushes with the man- 

 dibles well open, whereas their Cedar-bird call was made with the 

 mandibles almost closed. 



Besides the three notes described, there was a much used con- 

 versational note that evidently contained no implication of sus- 

 picion or trouble and was in strong contrast with the several 

 notes already described. It was an exceedingly soft and sweet 

 little note that could be heard but a few feet, and which I can best 

 describe by wee. Wee was used by the parents to each other and 

 to the young. It seemed, however, to be mostly employed to 

 herald to the young the parents' approach with food. At a dis- 

 tance of six or eight feet from the nest a single wee from a parent 

 would announce to the young the former's proximity. As the 

 parent hopped closer, the ivees were rapidly repeated, wee-wee- 

 toee-ivee, and the nearer the parent came to the nest, the softer the 

 wees were uttered, until they were faint whispers. To these tvees, 

 the young responded, during their first days, by erecting their 

 heads and opening wide their mouths; but later, when they became 

 more mature, they would rise to their feet upon hearing the first 

 wee and energetically beg for food. Wees, however, were not 

 always uttered when the parents approached the nest. Some- 

 times, when everything seemed to be running smoothly, the 

 parents came and went in complete silence. 



The fifth, and only remaining note, was one I heard but twice 

 and both times it came from the male. It was an indescribable 

 explosive twitter of ecstasy made with fluttering wings. I first 

 heard it on August 3, immediately after the male had been singing 



