VENTRILOQUIAL AND IMITATIVE POWER OF BIRDS. 65 
many rods. On looking through the bush tangled with 
vines, I found the mate sitting on her nest of eggs. 
The male, while singing to her, had been throwing his 
voice to a distance, evidently to mislead intruders. It 
was a clear case of ventriloquism exercised with a 
motive, for as soon as he knew the nest was found he 
flew to an oak some distance off and commenced a loud 
rollicking song, moving about from limb to limb, doubt- 
‘less hoping to divert my attention from the nesting 
place. 
At least two of the wrens (Zroglodytes aedon and 
Troglodytes hiemalis) possess more or less ventriloquial 
power. I remember how I once searched for a winter 
wren that was singing in a cedar thicket. I heard the 
song first on one side, then on another, always seeming 
to be above me, when in reality the bird was all the time 
on an upturned root of a little sapling, within plain 
sight. Several times afterwards I heard this wren go 
through a similar performance. 
In his “Rambles About Home,” Dr. C. C. Abbott 
relates a very interesting experience on this subject with 
the yellow-breasted chat (Jcterta virens). “ From the 
branch of a tall locust a chat warbled a series of sweet, 
liquid notes, then squealed like a squirrel and yelped 
like a dog; following this with a wild outburst of glori- 
ous melody. While listening and wondering what next 
would greet my ears, I was surprised and startled by 
hearing the same strange sounds repeated, but at some 
distance off. Another chat farther down the path was 
singing in the same strange way. Another it must be, 
