A Study of a White-Breasted Nuthatch 33 



the song heard from intermediate distances. I have noted two 

 modifications of this song: in one the pitch falls slightly at 

 the end; in the other (the rarer) the pitch undulates up and 

 down resembling, in change of pitch (but not at all in tone 

 of voice) a common variation of the Black and White War- 

 bler's song. In both forms the individual notes are delivered 

 with the usual slight upward inflection. 



The second main song is in every way like the common 

 first song, except the number of notes and the rapidity with 

 which they are delivered. In this rarely heard song about 

 thirty notes are crowded into the same space of time as the 

 eight or ten occupy in the ordinary song. I have noted no 

 variation in this song and, as I have never heard any inter- 

 mediate form between the two songs, I judge them to be 

 distinct. 



The Nuthatch sings every month in the year ; even on the 

 coldest days of January he occasionally sings a few times in 

 the early morning — I have heard the song when the temper- 

 ature was zero; — in February songs are more frequently 

 heard, but singing during this month is still irregular. The 

 chief singing period is from the first of March until the last 

 of May ; during these three months the male sings continu- 

 ally. June is a month of comparative silence (I have only 

 'five records of song) ; in July and August songs are heard 

 almost as infrequently as in winter, and during the last four 

 months of the year singing is still rarer. In winter, singing 

 is confined to the early morning hours, — soon after sun- 

 rise — and even during the spring it is rare, before the first of 

 April, to hear a Nuthatch sing in the afternoon. In autumn 

 an occasional song is heard in the warmest part of the day. 



In addition to his songs, our Nuthatch utters five different 

 notes: (1) The simplest of these, and by far the most fre- 

 quently used note of his vocabulary, is a high, short syllable, 

 quietly pronounced, much aspirated, sounding like " hit." 

 This note is given when the bird is perched and when he is 

 in the air, both by a solitary bird and by the pair when they 

 are together. It is both a soliloquising and a conversational 



