. Bird lore . Hermit Thrush In a grove of red cedars, in a shelteredvalley near Plainfield, fully twelve orfifteen Hermit Thrushes spent the pastwinter, finding an abundance of food inthe berries of the flowering dogwood. I have lately heard three distinct call-notes from these birds, one, of course, thefamiliar low, blackbird-like chuck. Thetwo other notes do not seem to be com-monly known, at least to those familiarwith the bird only as a migrant. The firstis a simple, high-pitched whistle, rarelyloud; the second, a curious, somewhatnasal cry recalling the unmusical note ofthe Veery. The Her
. Bird lore . Hermit Thrush In a grove of red cedars, in a shelteredvalley near Plainfield, fully twelve orfifteen Hermit Thrushes spent the pastwinter, finding an abundance of food inthe berries of the flowering dogwood. I have lately heard three distinct call-notes from these birds, one, of course, thefamiliar low, blackbird-like chuck. Thetwo other notes do not seem to be com-monly known, at least to those familiarwith the bird only as a migrant. The firstis a simple, high-pitched whistle, rarelyloud; the second, a curious, somewhatnasal cry recalling the unmusical note ofthe Veery. The Hermit Thrush seldom sings whilewith us in the spring, and the song is solow as to be inaudible if one is more thana few yards from the singer. On March19, I was agreeably surprised to hear fouror five of these thrushes singing throughmost of the afternoon, though it wasraining at the time. The song of onlyone bird, however, was of sufficient vol-ume to be heard at any distance.— Miller, Plainfield, N. i&oofe jBteto0 anti 3Blet)ieto0 Significance of White Markings inBirds of the Order Henry Chester Tracy. Univ. in Zool., vi, 1910. pp, 285-312. Few ornithologists, we imagine, haveseen a Meadowlark or Junco, a Mocking-bird or Magpie, expose its white markingsin flight without speculating over theirsignificance. It is almost invariably theouter pair of tail-feathers which havethe most white, and we believe that inno bird is the central pair white and theouter pair dark. The white is, therefore, so disposed thatit is visible only when the tail is more orless spread; and in many cases it is spreador opened just enough to show the extentof these white markings. The theories advanced in explanationof the value or purpose of flight-exposedwhite marks at least prove that manymen have many minds, even if theirwide variance tends to weaken our beliefin their validity. To Thayer, such colorcharacters are concealing or obliterative; toothers, including the
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