26 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



of song. Yet winter with us is not absolutely silent. Though 

 songs are rare at this season, still even on inclement and typic- 

 ally wintry days one may occasionally hear a bit of cheery 

 music from a Song Sparrow, Carolina Wren, or Chickadee ; 

 while on those calm vernal days that sometimes ensconce them- 

 selves in the ver}'^ heart of winter. Cardinal, Bluebird, Tufted 

 Titmouse, Meadowlark, White-throated Sparrow, Field Sparrow, 

 Tree Sparrow, or Junco may try its voice ; though seldom does 

 one hear more than one or two of these species at once. 



My records attest that I have heard Chickadee songs in every 

 month of the year except June, and that this exception is 

 merely accidental I have no doubt. Yet never have I noted 

 the well-known two (sometimes three) note song of the 

 northern Chickadee — the so-called ' phoebe ' note — in this lat- 

 itude. It may be that some of the minor songs — those num- 

 erous combinations of glassy notes the Chickadee delights 

 in — which I have ascribed to the Carolina Chickadee were ut- 

 tered by the northern bird, which has many similar phrases at 

 its command ; but the clearly whistled song of atricapilla has 

 never greeted my ears in the vicinity of Washington. 



Anent this song, so frequently referred to as the ' phoebe ' note 

 -of the Chickadee, let me say a word or two. The name was 

 originally used by Thoreau and was by him evidently applied 

 to the ordinary spring song of the northern Chickadee, as it has 

 been applied by others ever since. The characterization is only 

 fairly good ; for the Chickadee song is a clear whistle, while 

 Phoebe's note is of mixed quality. Phoebe's voice is a very high 

 tenor ; that of Chickadee is nearer a childish or feminine treble. 

 Chickadee's note can be imitated perfectly by the human whistle, 

 but Phoebe's cannot. But both Chickadees utter a phrase that 

 is truly entitled to be called the phcebe note — a reproduction of 

 Phoebe's song so nearly exact that in four successive springs it 

 misled me into the belief that the Phcebe had arrived from the 

 South. This is the real phcebe note of the Chickadee, not the 

 clear-toned whistle of atricapilla. 



The singing of the Robin shows great individual variety. By 

 this I do not mean to imply that one Robin will vary his songs 

 according to the time of day or condition of the weather — I 



