178 Townsend, Birds of Cape Breton Island. [ April 



in the breast. This full nuptial song is certainly very different 

 from the song occasionally heard at other seasons, and would 

 hardly be recognized by one who had heard the latter only. 1 



The American Crossbill, on the other hand, rarely sang. Occa- 

 sionally one might hear the call-notes so rapidly repeated that they 

 resembled a trilling song. One bird emitted this song as it flew, 

 following it up by several high, quickly repeated squeeky notes. 



Parus hudsonicus. Hudsonian Chickadee. — - It is as easy to 

 distinguish this bird by its notes from the familiar Black-capped 

 Chickadee, as by its plumage. There are, however, very few 

 descriptions in the books of these characteristic notes, and I can 

 find no account of a song. Both Chickadees have a variety of 

 faint notes that are very much alike, but there is one characteristic 

 in most of the notes of the Hudsonian which at once distinguishes 

 it from the Black-cap, and that is the z quality, delivered in a lower 

 pitch. In a word, the Hudsonian uses z while the Black-cap uses 

 s or d. The former says pst zee-zee or less often pst zee-zee-zee, 

 while the latter repeats more frequently, and rattles off, psik a dee- 

 dee-dee-dee-dee, and his notes are higher pitched. 



Several times in different places I was treated to a pleasant little 

 warble from the Hudsonian Chickadee, which appeared to my 

 companion and myself to easily merit the name of song. It was a 

 low, bubbling, warbling song, which I vainly attempted to describe 

 in my notes. It began with a pstt or tsee, followed by a sweet but 

 short warble. This song, if song it be, is quite different from the 

 irregular rolling notes that the Black-cap occasionally emits, which 

 cannot be considered a song. In one case I noted that the song was 

 emitted by an adult. I heard the song several times from one bird 

 at Englishtown, several times from another at Indian Brook, once 

 at Skir Dhu, and once at North Ingonish. It is evident therefore 

 that it was not the idiosyncracy of one bird. While it would seem 

 strange that the Hudsonian Chickadee should not have a song, it 

 is stranger still that those who are familiar with the bird at all sea- 

 sons should not have heard it, if it exists. As far as I know the 

 only allusion to a song in this species is by Mr. Horace W. Wright 



1 Since this was written, my attention was called to a very similar description of 

 this glorious song by Olive Thorne Miller in her 'With the Birds in Maine' (Boston, 

 1904), pp. 10 to 12. 



