118 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



SOME STRANGE BIRD NOTES, 



A MYSTERY. 

 By Edward Howe Forbush. 

 The second week in June 1903, while living in a cabin on the banks 

 of the Musketaquid, I heard one morning a succession of strange notes 

 coming from a tree in the woods immediately behind the cabin. The 

 bird that uttered them was concealed by the foliage; but after the per- 

 formance was finished a Black-billed Cuckoo peered out from among 

 the leaves and gave a few rattling call-notes. I was unable to find, in 

 in the vicinity, any other bird to which the notes could possibly be at- 

 tributed; therefore I set down the Cuckoo as the possible author of the 

 sounds and determined to investigate the matter further at the first 



opportunity. 



On June 27th I heard the same notes again coming, this time from 

 the pines on the top of the hills behind the cabin. By creeping care- 

 fully along I succeeded in getting directly beneath the tree on which 

 the strange performer sat. There were, in the tall pines on the hill- 

 top, three Crows, one of which could be plainly seen as he engaged in 

 this vocal performance. From my notes made at the time I take the 

 following 'extract: "The Crow says, Kep! kep! kep! woo! woo! and 

 many other original things, some harsh, some very pleasing; but many 

 of them are much more like the hooting of an owl or the cooing of a 

 dove than the notes of a Crow." 



This Crow remained about the hill all summer and frequently in- 

 dulged in the most varied and peculiar music. Some of it had a singu- 

 lar melody. 



One day in the fall, while concealed near the river bank, I heard a 

 noise much like the whining of a young puppy. A little later three 

 Crows that had been hidden by underbrush on the shore, rose into the 

 alders and I saw one of them open its beak as the melodious whining 

 sound again fell on the ear. They soon saw me and flew ofif to the 

 meadow whence I presently heard the sound again. 



Through the sumrrier of 1904, I listened in vain for the crow-song, 

 hearing a faint attempt at it occasionally, but no such varied outpour- 

 ing as in the previous year. Crows were not so common as usual this 

 season, owing perhaps, to the hard winter of 1903-1904 which killed 

 many of them. Possibly the cooing Crow of 1904 was a young bird 

 that had taken a few lessons from the star performer of the year before- 



These notes regarding the strange crow music have been mentioned 

 not so much because of their unusual nature (for Crows have fine vocal 

 organs which are capable of producing varied and musical tones) but 

 because of some closely related sounds which were heard later from a 



