28 



Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



Grosbeak as the gaudy male flits through 

 the foliage near his prospective home. 

 Even with this undignified flyer, who 

 generally progresses by undulating vigorous 

 dashes, we can detect a hesitating flutter 

 when the bird sings on the wing. 



Another bird that sometimes sings on 

 the wing, is the White-rumped Shrike. 

 It is not generally known that this Shrike, 

 or for that matter, any other, has a song. 

 I have heard the song several times and 

 can testify to a series of very agreeable 

 notes nicely modulated. We cannot call 

 the song really melodious, but it is still 

 possessed of uniqueness, as it is essentially 

 unlike the notes of any other bird of my 

 acquaintance. I once heard this Shrike 

 sing as it flew in tlie characteristic manner 

 of flight singers, on fluttering wings. 



The true love-song of the Golden- 

 crowned Thrush or Oven-bird has been but 

 rarely referred to by writers, in fact, the 

 best musical eff'orts of this species have 

 only been described in comparatively 

 recent times. The loud clanking chirpings, 

 so often heard, have been listened to by all 

 observers, but a superior strain, apparently 

 only occassionlly uttered, has been listened 

 to by but few intelligently. I feel safe 

 in saying that no bird among us which is so 

 well known, has eluded the observers of 

 bird songs as this one has done. 



I listened to the love song of the 

 Oven-bird for the first time in 1880. A 

 burst of melody reached me in a dense 

 piece of low woods, well filled with 

 underbrush, and the delightful notes were 

 surprising and doubly pleasing to me in 

 this location. At first on hearing the song 

 the idea presented itself that a species new 

 to me was singing, and my extreme care in 

 reaching the glade in hopes of securing 

 a note, procured me a chance of witnessing 

 a most singular performance. Crawling 

 through the brush I came to a partial 

 clearing, over which a bird, evidently in 

 the highest transports of joy was fluttering 

 in irregular flight. It is not surprising 

 that I failed to recognize the performer 

 in this, to me, unusual aspect, for there 

 was not one feature in its notes or 

 movements in which it resembled its or- 

 dinary and understood habits. 



Observing another bird, evidently a 



Golden-crowned Thrush, and its mate, 

 perched on the ground near, and which 

 appeared to be the center of attraction 

 to the delighted warbler overhead I 

 quietly awaited the movements of the pair. 

 Never had I heard this song before and 

 never had I witnessed such a scene. This 

 was indeed making love with a spirit not 

 often witnessed among our warblers. This 

 son^ was almost continuous, that is, to- 

 gether with the interruptions of the more 

 subdued call or conversation-notes, and the 

 common chattering notes, so well known, 

 and described by Coues as a harsh cres- 

 cendo, and was largely of the most melo- 

 dious strains. The energetic, unconscious 

 fellow was in the meantime constantly 

 flying above his inamorata, describing near- 

 ly every form of flight except sailing. 

 First dashing to the edge of the glade, then 

 rising to the tops of the bushes he would 

 flutter almost directly upward as we have 

 often seen the European Sparrow or House 

 Wren do, and reaching a height of twenty 

 feet or more, would half flutter toward 

 his mate, or dash about the clearing in 

 varying evolutions, almost" constantly 

 singing. She, in the meantime, sat silent 

 and probably interested in the perform- 

 ance. The appearance of a third party 

 on the scene, undoubtedly also a lover, 

 caused the ecstatic singer to dash into 

 the brush. 



This song of ecstasy is rare, as is 

 also the much simpler one of the Yesper 

 Sparrow, which also goes into a raptur- 

 ous songflight occasionally. The Finch 

 rises into the air fifty feet or more but 

 not as rapidly as the Bobolink, and gen- 

 erally settles back near to the point 

 from which it took its fiight. The Bobo- 

 link sings as well when perched as in fiight, 

 though not so continued, but the Grass 

 Finch's song when on the surface is very 

 commonplace, while its flight song like 

 that of the Oven-bird is superior. 



A number of species of birds embraced 

 in the systematic division of singers, 

 aside from those species spoken of, are 

 known to utter their notes on the wing, 

 and from the Crow to the Martin, which 

 is the nearest to a musician among the 

 swallows, there are many which give 

 their best efibrts when flying. Among 



