a tt ,o Ank^XIV, July, 1897, pp- 3 / 9 - 3 ^c, 
An Unusual Song of the Red-winged Blackbird.— In the first week of 
May last, I happened on a company of Red-winged Blackbirds, in full 
play of their courting hour. The males among them were, of course, as 
tuneful and as actively engaged in the cutting of capers as is their wont, 
at such times. 
But on this occasion it was more interesting to notice that the females, 
ordinarily so very demure, were showing themselves to be not a whit the 
less animated by the spirit of the play. And very amusing indeed it was 
to watch these comedians in sober brown, but in extemporized ruffs, 
puffs and puckers, pirouette, bow and posture, and thus quite out-do in 
airs and graces their black-coated gallants. Their shrill whistle, the 
meantime continually vied with, or replied to, the hoarse challenges of 
their admirers, while in noisy chattering, and in teasing notes, they 
were excessively voluble. 
Whilst loitering thus entertained my ear had been attracted by repeti- 
tions of a strain which came from the dense foliage of a nearby pine. In 
meter it was the same as the coke-al-lee-e-e of the shoulder-strapped 
members of the company. It was, however, pitched in a higher key, 
wholly free from gutturals, nor did it contain any sound that could be 
represented by any consonant in our alphabet. It was also perfectly 
smooth in execution and mellow, flute-like in tone. The French u if 
dwelt upon, with inflections and modulations, as uttered by a sweet voiced 
Parisienne might closely, I imagine, represent the sound. After a while 
this singer came from his concealment, and, poising on an outer spray, 
there sang for eight or ten minutes, before flitting off, to be again 
hidden by the neighboring foliage. — Thomas Proctor , Brooklyn, N. Y. 
