October 
notes were thrown back and forth so realistically 
that I could not possibly tell whether he was 
behind or before me; and again, when looking 
for the source of that insect-like tone that proved 
to come from the black-poll warbler— 
‘** A sound so fine, there’s nothing lives 
*T wixt it and silence,” — 
but seeming to emanate from all directions, I 
went backward and forward and all around, at 
my wits’ end, until by accident I looked up- 
ward; and there he was, hopping about on a 
branch directly over my head. 
Many birds have what singers call ‘‘ great 
carrying power’’ in their voices, so that until 
one is familiar with a bird’s tone, he is likely to 
be very much deceived as to its volume and 
distance. 
9 
The record of observations in October is com- 
monly briefer than that for September, for the 
most numerous family—the warblers—have most- 
ly passed south ere this, and some of the other 
families are only scatteringly represented. The 
swarms of migrants sailing north and south each 
spring and fall are much like myriad leaves 
279 
