'eather much the same. At such times 

 often see flying fish. Their motion 

 losely resembles the flight of some of 

 le smaller Sandpipers, and indeed the 



ORNITH 



— 1 



\ 00L< 



«i.oo per PUBLISHED BY THE FRAlj 



Vol. XVII. HYDE PARK, M 



Bird Notes at Sea. 



All summer I have "been cruising 

 shore on a pilot boat. I expected to § 

 material for a long article (or the Om 



THOLOGIST AND Ooi.OGIST, 1^ut find m 



self much disappointed. Speb^es are fe 

 and well known and incident^ almc 

 entirely lacking. Our cruising grpund 

 off the coast of South Carolina, nev 

 extending much beyond Cape Romaia i 

 the north, or Tybee on the south. 

 greater part of the time we are out i 



time squally, with a high sea. Une heai 

 storm we dragged both anchors and we 

 ashore in the night, but were helped c 

 again early next morning by a passii 

 steamer. 



Our boat is a comfortable forty-tc 

 schooner, and one of the fastest on tl 

 coast. We have had some lively rac 

 with our competitors, and leave the 

 no victories to record so far. There ai 

 three boats working against us, so we a| 

 seldom hove to, but spend our time eithi 

 beating to windward in a heavy head s( 

 or rushing down with slack sheets ar 

 topsails all up as soon as a speck of ss 

 breaks the horizon line. With this vie 

 of my surroundings it will be readily se( 

 that it has not been easy to make fi 

 notes upon the habits and manners of tl 

 few birds that I have seen. 



When once we strike out into the bh 



August, 1S92.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



115 



We again strike acquaintance on Mack- 

 inac Island about the first of July. Here 

 the Thrushes frequent the steep bluffs 

 covered with evergreens, in which the 

 nests are built. Here by far his most 

 striking characteristic, his singing power, 

 is developed. 



The song of the Olive-backed Thrush 

 begins low, ascends by two steps of two 

 notes each, and ends with several sharp 

 notes. The first note of each step is 

 higher than the second, and the second of 

 the next is about the same as the Jirst 

 note of the first step. Occasionally the 

 whole is preceded by a sharp chuck. 

 The notes have the swelling beauty of all 

 thrush songs, while the metallic ending 

 "rings" like a little bell. The song al- 

 ways says to me, gurgle gurgle ting 

 die die die. 



As far as my experience goes, the 

 Thrush never sings steadily, except in his 

 chosen tree. In fact, for two years one 

 has selected for his perch a small ever- 

 green near our cottage, and it was from 

 him that I procured the following data. 



I am about to state what to most of you 

 will seem incredible. Please remember 

 that each of these statements has been 

 verified again and again through succes- 

 sive seasons, and that I have not attempt- 

 ed to over rather than understate the case. 



He sings on an average nine and one- 

 half times a minute with extreme regular- 

 ity. During the song periods of morning 

 and evening his constancy of purpose is 

 remarkable ; except to seize a passing in- 

 sect, he never breaks the recurrence of his 

 song. From a long series of records it 

 is found that he begins on an average at 

 about 3.15 A.M., ?,ing& steadily (of course 

 I mean ten times a minute with slight in- 

 termissions, not constantly) until about 

 9 A.M. ; is nearly silent till noon, after 

 which he sings occasionally for a minute 

 or so ; begins again about 4.30, and only 

 ceases to retire for the night at 7.30 p.m. 



This is a wonderful record, and were it 

 not verified by long experience I should 

 myself be inclined to consider it excep- 

 tional. Why, just take your pencil and 

 figure out how many songs he must utter 

 in a single day ! 



Expressing the time in round numbers, 

 allowing him but eight a minute (he may 

 have soldiered while I was not looking, 

 you know) and we have — 



Time of singing, one day, 500 min. 

 " " occasional song, 20 " 



Total, 520 " 



520 min. at S per min., 4160 songs. 



His song ceases entirely about the 25th 

 of July, although for five days before that 

 date vocal effort is somewhat relaxed, 

 about half the usual time being spent in 

 its pursuit. However, as he must arrive 

 by the first week in June, certainly it 

 would not be unfair to allow him at the 

 very least six weeks of vocal effort, 42 

 days at 4000 per day, 168,000 songs in a 

 season, a record excelled probably by the 

 Vireos alone. 



His alarm note is now diii-ree, with a 

 strong vibrating nasal sound on the last 

 syllable. Often, as with other thrushes, 

 a soft low whistle is uttered, pee-0-0. 



One of his characteristics is that, when 

 singing, it takes a great deal to frighten 

 him. One can stand almost directly under 

 his tree, but he will continue to sing on, 

 seemingly oblivious of your presence. 



After the young hatch, little time is lost 

 before beginning the southward journey. 

 While very abundant on the island during 

 autumnal migrations, I have observed but 

 a few stragglers in Kent County during 

 that period. Stewart Edward White. 



Many of our readers will be pained to 

 learn that James M. Southwick, the Rhode 

 Island naturalist, has been confined to his 

 bed during the last ten weeks. We all 

 wish him a speedy recovery. 



O.&O Vol.17, Angr,1892 p. 114-115 



/22 



