Bird Observations 



morning. I heard this song like a robin 

 at a distance and was sure it must be the 

 tanager, and sure enough there was his 

 red coat among the branches. I do not 

 recall any other bird who sings so much 

 like a robin as he does. The cadence and 

 inflection of the warble seem almost 

 identical with that of the robin, yet the 

 quality is different, and has something of 

 the scarlet tanager's individuality in it. I 

 found, too, that the song is more broken 

 than the robin's, being repeated at inter- 

 vals, instead of being an uninterrupted 

 strain. 



April 1 6th. This tanager utters some- 

 times a curious squawking note very like a 

 woodpecker. It is loud, and uttered at in- 

 tervals from the top of some tall tree, so 

 that until I discovered the small red object 

 sitting up in a high pine and watched his 

 bill open and shut I would not believe that 

 there was not some new and large species 

 of woodpecker up there. 



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