May., 1902. 
THE CONDOR 
67 
tion to this conclusion, we have great 
aerial wanderers like the hawks and 
eagles who are often widely separated 
from their mates but who rarely utter 
any note, except when with others of 
their species. 
In quite a few species special danger 
or warning notes are unknown so far 
as I am aware, but the birds make use 
of the call-note as an efficient substitute 
by repeating it much more rapidly. 
This is so with the common snovbirds 
or juncos for usually the call-notes “tsit” 
and “tsut” are scarcely noticeable al- 
though heard anywhere, but frequently 
on looking for their nests, I have caused 
them much distress, as they are ex- 
tremely suspicious (oftentimes betray- 
ing their own nests by being so) and 
will then repeat their call-notes very 
rapidly but once their nest is discovered 
their uneasiness vanishes partially and 
the repetition of the call-notes is less 
rapid. Some other birds have besides 
their common and special notes, a flight 
note that in a way is a call-note, for it is 
rarely ever uttered by the species ex- 
cept when they are actually flying and 
from this constancy in its character it is 
possibly used intentionally by the birds 
as a flight call-note. The flight notes 
of the red-shafted flicker may be taken 
as a good example, although they vary 
somewhat in individual birds. The 
notes are “kruh ur rur ruh ruh” vary- 
ing to “koh ur ur ruk” and the phrase 
is repeated once or twice fairly rapidly, 
during the undulating flight of the bird. 
Vigors wren has a call-note which is in 
no way peculiar but the arrangement 
and repetition of a common or basic 
note into a series of notes, may be given 
as typical of the call-notes of quite a 
large number of birds. It is “pwit 
pwitwit-pwit-pwit-pwitwit.” The note 
“pwit” repeated three or four times 
with an equal lapse of time between 
each repetition, is vrsed commonl}^ by 
this species when they first wake up 
in the morning but occasionally the ris- 
ing note, if it may be called that, is the 
warning note, a very harsh “bweeip- 
bweeip.” Why they should use this 
note on first waking up, I have been 
unable to understand. They use it 
commonly on the approach of human 
beings and in several cases I have seen 
other bush birds take advantage of it. 
Both of our common jays have a 
great variety of notes and I have been 
unable to make much headway with 
my study of them, as frequently the 
birds are not very particular which 
note they use. The common call-note 
of the blue-fronted jay is “kuk kuk 
kuk kuk.” Then they also have a 
harsher call-note “krewee” but it is not 
a common one. The species though, 
cannot be passed by without mention- 
ing its imitation of the cry of the west- 
ern red-tailed hawk, “kwee o yerh.” 
This is so well done that as Mr. Keeler 
says in his “Bird Notes Afield,” “the 
most experienced ear will be deceived.” 
Undoubtedly the bird makes ruse of it 
as a warning to other birds at certain 
times when danger is around but at 
other times in the spring he uses it to 
show off his abilities to his prospective 
mate. Another species that has two 
different call-notes is the California 
woodpecker, for besides his common 
call-note “ka rac ka” he has another 
commonly used that is “yea cup.” 
Turning now to the birds that are 
songless or comparatively so and whose 
notes may be taken in part as substitute 
for songs there are two birds that will 
fairly illustrate this class or connecting 
link between the true singers and those 
that can only utter notes. The first is 
the wren-tit, a bird with a very pleas- 
ing trill as its chief attraction, for its 
colors are of the plainest. It is hard to 
consider this trilling “tit tit tit ter tree 
ee e,” not a true song but rather as a 
common call-note, 3'et such I believe is 
nearer the truth. It certainly partakes 
of tlie nature of a call-note, for as soon 
as one bird utters it, he is answered 
from a little distance by another and so 
on, but in one way is near to being a 
song, for as far as I have been able to 
observe, the male is the only one to 
