VENTRILOQUIAL AND IMITATIVE POWER OF BIRDS. 69 
screech owl also softens its voice in the same way, with 
the most beguiling mockery of distance.” 
Most birds have themes or songs peculiar to their 
own species, and when we have learned these we 
recognize them whenever we hear them. Not so, how- 
ever, of all. Even the common little gold finch (Spinus 
tristis) will often utter a strain so new and strange that 
those most familiar with it fail for a moment to recog- 
nize the author. The purple finch (Carpodacus pur- 
purens) is also a variable singer. Some of his songs 
are as soft and peaceful as those of the warbling vireo ; 
others wild and sylvan as those of the wood-thrush or 
winter wren, while still others are loud, ‘sharp, and 
harsh, with as little melody as the song of the indigo 
bird. Their songs in different localities also differ so 
greatly that to the uninitiated they may easily be 
mistaken for those of other species. I remember a 
remarkable performance of one of these finches. 
While gathering rhododendrons in a wet woods near 
Angola, I was surprised at a strange song that broke 
the stillness of the quiet afternoon. It was low, sweet, 
tremulous, running up and down in such quavers of 
pure melody that for the moment I was sure that I was 
listening to an unknown singer of rare power, and not 
until I saw the bird could I believe that it was the 
familiar purple finch. The young birds had but recently 
flown from the nest, and two or three of them, with 
the old birds, were at times in the same tree. The 
female was quite busy going and coming with food for 
the young, while the male continued for a long time 
