Field Notes 41 



THE MAGPIE AT SIOUX CITY, IOWA. 



On December 5, as I was returning home from a field trip, 1 

 had the pleasure of seeing a rather uncommon bird for this lo- 

 cality, the Magpie (Pica pica Midsonia) . The first indication of 

 its presence came when I heard it give its loud, harsh call. This 

 was such an unusual sound that I hurried in its direction and 

 arrived on the scene just in time to see a large black bird, with 

 conspicuous white markings, fly off through the trees. It soon 

 alighted, however, and then I was able to call Dr. T. C. Stephens, 

 and together we watched the bird. It was alone, but the plumage 

 was in such splendid condition that it was probably not an es- 

 caped cage bird. 



An interesting fact in this case is that the Magpie here referred 

 to had invaded the very center of the city. It was finding an 

 abundance of food in the back yards, and was observed to visit 

 and feed from several garbage cans. In one back yard it seemed 

 to find a supply of food on the ground; but a dog annoyed the 

 bird repeatedly. The Magpie, however, simply flew to a nearby 

 post, and returned to the ground as soon as the dog retreated. 

 This game was kept up for some time. 



The presence of the Magpie at Sioux City may be explained by 

 the theory advanced by Bruner, Wolcott and Swenk in " Birds of 

 Nebraska"; that the Magpies move eastward, in the winter, 

 through the Niobrara Valley, which would bring them within a 

 short distance of Sioux City. Anderson, in his " Birds of Iowa," 

 quotes Coues as fixing Sioux City as the eastern limit of the Mag- 

 pie's range. 



This is not the only record of the Magpie's occurrence in Sioux 

 City, but they are of sufficient rareness to make publication worth 

 while. 



Arthur R. Abel. 



Sioux City, la. 



THE WHISPER SONGS OF BIRDS. 



During the spring and fall migration of 1915, the writer had 

 the pleasure of hearing several^ species of birds sing the whisper 

 song. 



One evening in May, a Brown Thrasher that had just succeeded 

 in getting a mate, and had selected a place to build a nest in an 

 elderberry patch near the house, was seen with his mate near 

 the nesting site, and a few minutes later was heard singing very 

 softly, not half as loud as a Thrasher usually sings. When first 

 heard singing in this manner, and before becoming aware that 

 it was the Thrasher in the elderberry patch, I thought it was 



