Hifh 1 (4 
us and went thro* all his curious notes and motions without 
apparently regarding my presence in the least. . ■ < 
As I have already published some very full notes 
on this curious love song, it will not be necessary here 
to give any other than a few additional points which the 
better opportunities of this recent experiment enabled me 
(to) note. The article referred to speared in the American 
-r 
Sportsman, vol. IV, p. 19. 
When the bird rises into the air, its wings whistle 
steadily as it mounts in a broad spiral course into the 
dusky heavens. The highest point reached is perhaps three 
or four hundred feet. It then begins to descend by a series 
of irregular, erratic plungings, which produce the effect 
of dividing the whistling"into syllables". The whistling 
is at this period especially shrill and loud, but is never¬ 
theless unmistakably produced by the wings. When about one 
third of the descent is effected, the wings are apparently (!) 
set and the bird floats evenly and slowly downward like a 
dusky ball of thistle down. Then begins the vocal music, 
a succession of soft and exceedingly liquid notes which are 
accelerated as the author nears the earth. My original 
description was perhaps a trifle overdrawn but still the song 
is a beautiful one and if it had just a little more power it 
would scarcely be surpassed by that of any of the true 
11 
