18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



sion, teacher, teacher, etc. , but as I now hear the song the 



accent is placed on the last syllable. ' ' To this Miss Paddock ' 

 assented, but Mr. Gerald Thayer,'' unlike all the rest, noted some 

 variation. He wrote: "Its tone-quality is, I believe, prac- 

 tically changeless, but its volume, speed and accentuation vary 

 somewhat. Often, for instance, it is accented on the second 

 syllable of each teacher, instead of on the first." This last, 

 though it suggests a solution in variation of product, lacks 

 authority, because it does not produce musical data to sub- 

 stantiate the position taken. 



Believing that the real solution would be found by securing a 

 large series of accurate records from different localities, the 

 author has taken every opportunity to do this during the past 

 four years and has now a considerable number, obtained largely 

 from three localities; southern New Jersey, central New Jersey 

 and central Maine. These throw so much light on the problem 

 cited, as well as on other matters of interest connected with the 

 call-song, that the most notable seem worthy of publication. 

 They are not the result of snap judgment, but of careful decis- 

 ion after hours of concentration in the field. Indeed, whole 

 days were devoted to the task of stealing up to singing Oven- 

 birds and deciphering their enigmatic vocalizations, so that the 

 records, I believe, are practically free from error. 



There seems to be a general impression that the call-song is 

 subject to little variation. If this were so, the wide divergence 

 of opinion, cited above, would be incomprehensible, except by 

 another supposition that the song-properties are ambiguous. A 

 careful study of my records proves the last supposition correct 

 and the general impression false. One of the song-properties, 

 quality of tone, is extremely ambiguous, but the difficulty lies 

 in the great variation the song undergoes at the throats of various 

 Oven-birds. No two birds sing the same song and most indi- 

 viduals during hours of repetition change their productions con- 

 siderably. There is not one song-property that does not at 

 sometime or other vary or vanish. Even the tone-quality, gen- 

 erally a thick breathy whistle, is subject to some variation, for 



1 Quoted in " Warblers of N. America," p. 224. 'Thayer, MS. 



