GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER. 



why they should not have favored us with the first 

 syllable. I have never heard the bird sing zee-zee-zee-zee 

 alone; for those who listen with a sharp ear he will 

 always sing Ps-s-^-st zee- zee- zee-zee, or some similar 

 form which is duly recorded here. It is a notable fact 

 that many people are partly tone-deaf; I have the 

 acquaintance of several so afflicted, therefore, it is not 

 surprising that the syllable Ps-s-s-st has not (to my 

 knowledge) been reported, for the note is pitched so 

 inconceivably high that there is little use in placing it 

 in any definite position on, or relatively with, the musi- 

 cal staff! Of course such a tone can not be heard by 

 one who is tone-deaf. The other four notes (there may 

 be less, rarely more of them) are characteristically 

 burred, and one has to hum and at the same time 

 whistle in a lisping way between the teeth to imitate 

 them. Here is a fair representation of the song by a 

 series of signs: " .... or, rendering this form in 

 musical notation, the aspect is certainly not materially 

 changed: 



6O r ._ Three times 8v 

 f\ ^ ai y v * /v^wvw^^v 



Ps-i-s-t zee-zee-zee-zte. 



But this Warbler, like many another bird, indulges ID 

 certain variations; here is one: 



cres. /www 



That consists of two long notes and two short ones; the 

 record belongs to a particular individual, and I have 

 been unable thus far to duplicate it, so I suppose it may 

 be considered eccentric. By far the commonest record 

 I have is a form comprising only four notes with the in- 

 terval of a third between the first and second noten 

 thus: 



167 



