326 Wright, Morning Awakening and Even-Song. [july 



call at 8.17, and the Robin sang his last notes at 8.18 o'clock. The 

 Robin and the Hermit are always close rivals as to which shall 

 sound the last note. After an interval of two or three minutes, 

 when neither has voiced itself, one or the other will again render 

 a phrase of song or give a few calls. Calls are usually the last notes 

 heard. The Robin generally triumphs by a minute or two. Then 

 all the voices are hushed for the night, except that a Song Sparrow 

 or a Chippy may break forth sleepily to give its song once even 

 an hour later, as they sometimes do in the night before beginning 

 their morning singing. 



The same species, therefore, which sing earliest at daybreak also 

 sing latest at twilight, and they cease singing, generally speaking, 

 in a reversed order, although there are some variations in the order. 

 These earliest and latest singing species are the common sparrows, 

 namely, Vesper, Savannah, White-throated, Chipping, Field, 

 Junco, and Song; the common flycatchers, Kingbird, Phcebe, 

 Wood Pewee, Alder, and Least; and the thrushes, Wood, Veery, 

 Olive-backed, Hermit, Robin, and Bluebird. Other species which 

 awake to voice themselves but little before sunrise or after, cease 

 to sing and call at sunset or a little later. Such are the Chimney 

 Swift, the Crow, the Bobolink, the Purple Finch, the Goldfinch, 

 the Indigo Bunting, the Cedar Waxwing, the Red-eyed Vireo, 

 the Blue-headed Vireo, and the warblers in general. Habit in 

 this respect seems to be adhered to as a law of the various species' 

 being, from which they scarcely deviate. So not any of the earli- 

 est songsters of the morning cease to sing in the evening until 

 some time after sunset, and several continue for almost an hour 

 later. And on the other hand there are no species which awaken 

 to sing late in the morning which continue to sing late in the even- 

 ing. Those of the first group seem not to be dependent upon 

 daylight for inspiration, but voice themselves in song in compar- 

 ative darkness, while the others do seem to be dependent upon 

 daylight and are silent except it be comparatively light. 



Even-song is not extended as long after sunset as matins precede 

 sunrise, since the earliest songs of ten species in the morning are 

 given from an hour and five to twenty minutes before sunrising, 

 while the latest ten songsters in the evening continue to sing only 

 from twenty-four to forty-eight minutes after sunsetting. This 



