But do not be disturbed by its wierdness, the bird 

 is only uttering its long distance note to its mate or 

 friends, it is not a call of danger or ill omen. 



Two other large birds generally utter their loud 

 wild calls during the night, the great horned owl and 

 the gray owl. The uncanny who-who-who-who is eas- 

 ily recognized as coming from some big owl, but the 

 meaning of the strange music is not so clear. Is it a 

 love call to their mates, or is it intended to paralyze 

 rabbits and woodchucks with fear of the big nocturnal 

 hunters? Whatever may be the meaning, one would 

 not want to miss the call of the 'loon and the hoot of 

 the owl from his Northwoods camp. 



If you go into the Northwoods in June and early 

 July, you will want to know at least two or three real 

 woodland songsters, who play the leading parts in the 

 forest orchestra, the white-throated sparrow, the her- 

 mit thrush, and the veery or Wilson thrush. Without 

 these three performers the Invisible Choir would have 

 no leaders. At almost any time of the day, you will 

 hear the white-thrat, also known as the Peabody bird 

 or Peabody sparrow. The song is a high-pitched 

 whistle suggested by the syllables: "Dee-dee-dee-dee- 

 (Ic-de-de; or sow wheat, peabody, peabody, peabody. " 

 On moonlight nights, the birds begin to sing between 

 two and three in the morning, while the last singers 

 nmy whistle in the thicket as late as ten - in the 

 evening. The song is the most common and character- 

 istic bird note in the northern summer woods, but 

 many people who have been in the woods year after 

 year have never seen the bird sing, although he is not 

 very wild and a little patient scouting will locate him, 



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