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AGENTS AMERICAN WALTHAM WATCH G?. WALTHAM MASS. 
N? 373 WASHINGTON STREET. 
NEW YORK. 21 MAIDEN LANE. 
CHICAGO. 103 STATE ST. 
LONDON. HOLBORN CIRCUS. 
M0NTREAL.I69 ST.JAMES ST. 
New Song of the Baltimore Oriole. — I wish to call the attention of 
the readers of ‘The Auk’ to a seemingly new song which a number 
of Baltimore Orioles {Icterus galbula) have acquired. The Orioles sing- 
ing it are abundant in and about Prides Crossing and Beverly Farms, 
Mass., though similar singers elsewhere have been reported only from 
South Berwick, Maine. 
The new song is as follows : 
Deliberately . 
-- v 
Rapidly. 
ESSE 
The three notes, D, A, D, are whistled in a robust, bold, loud quality, 
noticeably coarser and firmer than the quality of other Oriole songs. 
The notes are invariable both in tempo, tune and rhythm ; except that 
sometimes a grace note on A precedes the first D, or sometimes the first 
D is omitted; this apparently when the bird is in a hurry or nervous, or 
the A may be a trifle sharped. The succeeding sixteenth notes, which 
constitute the remarkable part of the performance, are indeterminate in 
pitch, and are spoken to the syllables : chuck , chuck , chuck , chuck , etc., 
perhaps five or seven times iterated. 
This chuckling, so far as I can tell, invariably follows this particular 
tune, but none other. Other Orioles in the same locality sing other 
tunes with a more mellow and variable quality of whistle ; but these 
latter birds, so far as I can be sure of their individual identity, never 
chuckle at anj' time. The, chuckling birds seem also to be of a duller 
orange, almost the tint of a Bluebird’s breast, or a ‘ chestnut’ horse, and 
are possibly last year’s young or two-year-olds. 
This chuckling song seems well worth mention, because as it is so 
marked and unusual it can be readily detected. And it would be interest- 
ing to inquire how widely spread this song may have become this season, 
as well as whether it has ever been heard before. If the song is a 
mimicry or imitation of some other species, I should welcome any sug- 
gestion as to the identity of its original model. — Reginald C. Robbins, 
Bosi °n, Mass. Auk, XVI, Oct. , 1899, p/>. 3A'A- -5”. 
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