30 Bird Comrades 



and others dropping almost to the alto. Occasionally 

 two birds in different parts of a field would sing respon- 

 sively, one trill running very high in the scale, the other 

 an octave lower. It seemed almost as if the responsive 

 exercise was engaged in intentionally. 



The Harris sparrow has another song which is quite 

 unlike his melodious trill. It is delivered in a loud voice 

 of little musical quality, and the notes are pounded out 

 in a percussive style, like the explosion in quick succession 

 of a number of little cartridges. Yet you must be quite 

 close to the bird in order to hear the queer canticle dis- 

 tinctly, and when you do hear it you will wonder why 

 nature ever put such a song into a bird's larynx. The 

 Harris sparrow also utters an explosive alarm-call, which 

 expresses not a little petulance and concern. 



One day a pretty picture was made by two of these 

 birds that stood face to face on a brush heap, bowing at 

 each other, each threatening to peck the other's head off, 

 and both singing all the while at the top of their voices, 

 yet each afraid, in spite of his bluster, to close with his 

 opponent in actual contest. It was a miniature exhibi- 

 tion of the beak-to-beak challenging often indulged in 

 by two rival cocks of the farmyard. For some minutes 

 the little farce was kept up, then one of the birds became 

 tired of the game and darted over to the next brush heap. 



I have said that these birds are scarcely known east 

 of the Mississippi River, but Mr. Ridgway says that they 

 are occasionally seen during migration in Illinois and 

 Wisconsin. In eastern Kansas and western Missouri 



