24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



present, so far as my experience goes, in all performances, how- 

 ever erratic and immature. ^ It is the characteristic trait, which 

 together with the crescendo effect, makes all of these productions 

 instantly recognizable as belonging to the Oven-bird. When 

 heard at a distance, it is invariably decided, almost sledge-like 

 in its stroke, though curiously enough at close range, muffled 

 and obscure. Again it is beat off in exact rhythm, like the tick- 

 ing of a clock with no sign of decrease or increase of speed. 

 Occasionally interrupted for snatches of the flight-song, the reg- 

 ular beat is at once reasserted, when the borrowed theme has 

 been abandoned. 



The name, Golden-crowned Accentor still persists in the syn- 

 onymy of this species and to a musician seems a better term 

 than Oven-bird. Other birds have evolved roofs for their nests, 

 notably the wrens, who have outdone our whimsical oven- 

 builder, but no other bird in the East has developed such a re- 

 markable accent by the most effective medium for displaying it, 

 that of crescendo. As far as my experience goes, it is the most 

 tremendous crescendo in the bird-world, quite capable of as- 

 tounding the blase intruder into its region of high oaks and beech- 

 es. There from the bush-free earth out of the heaps of restless 

 leaves will swell that voice, which in the time of three seconds 

 will surge from distant wood to his very feet. No musician can 

 render it with more precision ! Heard at a distance it is free of 

 all vagaries and has that confident ring, which at once claims the 

 woods and dominates all other songs, however much finer mu- 

 sically. Other birds have conceived some value in crescendo 

 and have employed it more or less effectively, particularly the 

 Screech Owl, who has pushed it to the extreme in the service of 

 mystery, and the Flicker, whose product is as harsh as the Oven- 

 bird's is soothing, but neither of them has caught the full con- 

 ception of its noblest power, the ability to express unbounded 

 exultation by one mighty surge to climax, as has this great 

 Accentor, wee of form, but gigantic of voice. 



' P^ven here 1 must note an exception and this only proves how variable this 

 bird is. In Rec. .> each note was sounded with the same intensity, so that there 

 was no accent, but this happened when the song was deteriorating apparently 

 under the influence of the heat. 



