Viewing page 32 of 751

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Atlapetes, May 30, 1960, III.    31 

The whole performance lasted at least 4 or 5 minutes.

Both birds were quite silent throughout the whole performance.

I got a much better look at the birds today. Bill black. The head as a whole is dark gray. Upon this gray is superimposed a black facial mark and two black stripes along the edge of the crown. This leaves gray supra-ocular stripes, and a gray median stripe on the ground, plus a lot of gray behind the black mark (the black mark does not reach the back of the head - it is probably only a cheek patch).

The gray median stripe is not visible during slight CR.

We came across one Black-headed Bush-finch which appeared to be travelling along a hedge with a party of Yellow-bellies.

The only time we saw a Black-headed Bush-finch actually feeding, it was hopping about on the ground, in the path.

Early this morning, but after sunrise, we came across a Yellow belly (possibly or probably not one we have watched before) singing in a hedge. This bird had still another type of song!

"Tsa wheeoo whew"  or

"Tsa wheeoo wheeoo whew" or a similar song with a lot of notes added at the end:

"Tsa wheeoo whew - ew - ew - ew - ew - ew - ew...." 
This bird was moving through the hedge in the usual way, and singing in the usual posture. Apparently quite alone.

Later in the morning we surprised a party of 3 Yellow-bellies in an adjacent hedge. Possibly a family (one bird had a gray mark on its sides and may have been a juvenile). These birds uttered a great many, rather surprisingly soft and thin, CN's. "Dit" or "Didit" or "Dididit" or in even longer series, e.g. "Dididididididit" (the number of notes in these longer series was quite variable, did not appear to be fixed)