. The Auk. Birds. Vol. XXIV1 1907 J Howell and Oldys, The Bewick Wren. 151 No sufficient opportunity offered to write the rest of the song on the staff, but the three notes with which it closed may be indi- cated by the syllables 'sweet, sweet, sweet,' uttered rather rapidly. This song bore no resemblance to that of any other bird in this region, and was probably the wren's own. But that the Bewick Wren is an excellent mimic, was very palpably shown by the indi- vidual bird under consideration. The possession of an imitative faculty was indicated by the first songs noted; but before the interv
. The Auk. Birds. Vol. XXIV1 1907 J Howell and Oldys, The Bewick Wren. 151 No sufficient opportunity offered to write the rest of the song on the staff, but the three notes with which it closed may be indi- cated by the syllables 'sweet, sweet, sweet,' uttered rather rapidly. This song bore no resemblance to that of any other bird in this region, and was probably the wren's own. But that the Bewick Wren is an excellent mimic, was very palpably shown by the indi- vidual bird under consideration. The possession of an imitative faculty was indicated by the first songs noted; but before the interview was over the bird gave unquestionable proof of its powers by directly imitating the songs of a Chewink and a Field Sparrow that were singing near by, following each song by those birds with an imitation of it. The mimicry was mainly in quality of voice and style of theme, though the intervals used by the che- wink and the sparrow were fairly closely followed by the wren. Thus when the chewink sang —. the wren responded with = 192. £3 *£ or sometimes. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original American Ornithologists' Union. Washington, D. C. : American Ornithologists' Union, etc.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1884
