24 C. II. Merriam Birds of Connecticut. 



Regarding its song, Samuels, in bis " Birds of New England," says, 

 " Its note was a simple chirp, with a warbling termination like the 

 syllables chirpchree, chirpchree, uttered in a soft, pensive tone" (p. 

 207). I am perfectly familiar with the song of the bird in question, 

 but never heard it utter a note that could, by any legitimate stretch 

 of the imagination, be construed into Samuels' " chirpchree." Its 

 common song consists of a simple, clear, warbling whistle, resembling 

 the syllables 'trtie, 'trtie, 'trtie, 'tfra, Voo, the voice rising on the 

 first three syllables and falling on the last two. Sometimes, when 

 otherwise occupied, the first, or first two, syllables are omitted. All 

 through the breeding season, and till late in July, they have a very 

 characteristic habit of perching, at frequent intervals during the day, 

 on some branch, generally a dead one, and commonly ten or fifteen 

 feet from the ground, and singing for half an hour at a time. 



54. Icteria virens (Linne) Baird. Yellow-breasted Chat. 



A common summer resident, breeding in dense undergrowth. 

 Arrives before the middle of May (May 13, 1876, Osborne; 14, 1877). 

 Extends up the Connecticut Valley to Massachusetts (" not rare" at 

 Suffield).* Given by Eminons, in 1833, as an "occasional visitant" 

 in Massachusetts. f Their loud, ringing, notes surpass those of the 

 Catbird and almost equal the richly varied song of the Brown 

 Thrush (Harporhynchus rufus}. Its habits so closely resemble those 

 of its western congener (var. longicauda) that I take the liberty to 

 quote the following brief extract, relating to some of the peculiari- 

 ties of that bird, from my report on the Mammals and Birds collected 

 by the U. S. Geol. Survey of the Territories in the year 1872 : "They 

 are shy, suspicious creatures, and, although when disturbed they flit 

 about in a scolding, angry manner, generally manage to keep out of 

 sight. You hear them in the bushes imitating the mewing of a cat, 

 the shrill notes of the Jay, sometimes singing like a Catbird, and 

 again they sing sweetly in their own peculiar manner. They have a 

 strange habit of elevating themselves in the air to the height of 

 thirty or forty feet, then, poising for a moment, descend again to the 

 bushes. During the descent they jerk themselves about in the air, 

 at the same time uttering clear, ejaculated notes, which can be heard 

 for quite a distance, and are not altogether unpleasant to the ear."| 



* MS. notes of Erwin I. Shores, Esq. 

 f See Hitchcock's Report, p. 547. 1833. 

 \ See Hayden's Report for 1872, p. 675. 



