Page:Bird-lore Vol 04.djvu/77

 56 Bird — Lore

Has, ki-h‘kr, and various other similarly abrupt, explosive cries. uttered in tones of indignant protest and coming from far and near on every side. NIost of these calls are made by young Carolina Rails.

In September and October, and occasionally well into November, we frequently hear, both by day and night, especially when the weather is clear and warm, the autumnal call of Pickering‘s hyla. It consists of a prolonged series of short, dry or crackling notes, given very deliberately and often haltingly or at irregular intervals, rather feeble or at least not loud, yet audible at a considerable distance, and so very unlike the clear, brisk, spring peeping that no one would suspect that both sounds were uttered by the same creature. The autumnal call, moreover, is heard most frequently in woods or thickets, sometimes on high ground. It often seems to come from the branches of the trees or bushes, but if one is patient and fortunate enough to trace the sound to its little author, he is most likely to be found clinging to some leaf or grass blade only a foot or two above the ground.

In October the prevailing color of the marshes changes to browns and russets of rich and varied shades. Most of the Rails have departed, but there are still plenty of Song and Swamp Sparrows among the reeds and numbers of Savanna Sparrows in the beds of shorter grasses. Where the grass has been cut ﬂocks of Titlarks alight to feed on the exposed, muddy ground, and their feeble, piping calls are heard at frequent intervals. The Rusty Blackbirds have also returned from their summer homes at the north, but they are comparatively silent at this season. At day- break Black Ducks circle low over the marsh, attracting our attention by their loud quacking or perhaps by the light, silvery whistling of their wings—audible at a surprising distance when the air is perfectly still. Towards the close of the month, just as the level beams of the rising sun begin to light up the meadows white with the hoar frost which, during the night, has encrusted every leaf and blade of grass, we hear, faintly but distinctly, coming from high overhead, a tremulous twitter, immediately followed by a single, short, clear whistle. It is the ﬂight call of the Snow Bunting and the ﬁrst sound of autumn, which unmis- takably suggests the near approach of winter.