23 
The Flycatchers 
The note most commonly heard is a tweet, or twitter, 
coming as if through a restricted aperture, the vocalization 
constantly varying. The note is usually uttered in short, 
quick, irregular phrases, of a conversational rather than a 
singing nature. When the song is composed of the tweeting 
note only, it hovers very much on the same note, rising or 
falling by quarter tones through an interval of a tone or less, 
and dropping occasionally to a longer note four or five 
semitones below the general pitch. Such a song may continue 
for half a minute without a break. 
It is in the tweeting notes that the words “Pretty creature, 
pretty creature” have been heard, as if the vain little bird, 
conscious of its beauty, were attracting the attention of the 
observer, displaying its charms,—coquetting even with a 
human being. 
The notes of (1) were the call-notes of pied fantails, the 
vocalization being ti ti (the i short, as in tip). The usual call- 
note is a single note of this kind, or a similar note combined 
with a slur, as in (2). The notes of (1) were uttered at the 
rate of about five in two seconds. 
Pure whistles may be sung alone, as in (3), or combined with 
tweets as in (4), pitch and intervals varying in different birds, 
or on different days. The interval may fall instead of rise, and 
the pair of notes may become triplets, as in (4) to (6) : the 
whistling notes may also become vocalized. The snatch (4) 
