May, 1922 MISCELLANEOUS BIRD NOTES FROM MONTANA 81 
distinctly a warble which daily reminded me of the simple song of the Cassin 
Purple Finch (Carpodacus cassinz), a bird heard here at the same time. ‘lhe 
thight song is uttered with great rapidity, with a musical range of less than 
an octave and, in common with many flight songs, the notes are more or iess 
jumbled. Its duration, by repetition, is of unusual length. The perch song is 
similar, less eestatic and slower. As the use of the word ‘‘warble’’ is likely to 
convey a different idea to different people, it may be well to state what | 
mean by its use, namely, a rapidly-uttered, often repeated succession of notes 
very siightly accented, and ot narrow musical range. In the case of the 
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus gilvus) the difterent notes and their range may 
eaSily be made out, but the Solitaire’s flight warble does not permit of any 
such analysis. 
It is perhaps in the matter of the bird’s season of singing that writers are 
mostly at variance. Hanford (loc. cit., p. 13) says: ‘‘So rare a singer is the 
Solitaire that during my mountain rambles, extending over a period of thir- 
teen years, | have heard the song on only five oceasions.’’ Gertken (Auk, vol. 
33, 1916, p. 327) found it singing in Minnesota in December. Trippe, quoted 
by Coues (Birds of the Northwest, pp. 95, 96), says: ‘‘In summer and fall its 
voice 1s rarely heard; but as winter comes on, and the woods are well-nigh de- 
serted by all save a few Titmice and Nuthatches, it begins to utter occasionally 
a single bell-like note. . . . Toward the middle and latter part of win- 
ter, .-. . the Fly-catching Thrush delights to sing;’’ and farther, ‘*To- 
ward spring, as soon as the other birds begin to sing, it becomes silent.’’ Beck- 
ham (Auk, vol. 2, 1885, p. 140) also found them entirely silent in Colorado 
from April 22 to June 1, singing the latter week in September. Coues (Birds 
of the Colorado Valley, p. 47) writes that J. K. Lord heard some twenty Soli- 
taires in song in November at a time when the cold was intense, and Drew 
(Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, vol. 6, 1881, p. 86) found them singing in Colorado 
in October. 
The Solitaire is thus reported, by the combined testimony of several ob- 
servers, to be in song, at least at intervals, from September to February in- 
clusive, and by two observers to be silent during the customary singing sea- 
son. Others, however, including the writer, find the species quite normal in 
the matter of having the usual spring singing period. It is difficult to account 
for the reports that this species does not sing during the courting and nesting 
seasons. : 
Hylocichla fuscescens salicicola. Willow Thrush. Two birds seen in Great 
Falls Park, June 1, no doubt recently arrived. 
Hylocichla guttata auduboni. Audubon Hermit Thrush. Earliest seen on 
May 22 in the pineries at 6500 feet elevation. Those familiar with the eastern 
race will not fail to note the less rufous tail of auduboni. They were first 
heard to sing on June 4 on a steep mountain side. Here their song is heard 
under the most favorable conditions. I have a feeling of pity for any one who 
has no ears to hear this master of song: for any one who does not stop and 
reverently lift his hat as he listens to this anthem singer of the mountains. 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 2, 1922. 
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