I was familiar with the curious busing notes long before I met the author. They were quite common on Long Island and I spent many hours tracing down the ventriloquist. Several times luck attended–the faint path to the nest was successfully followed up and the owner tried to lure me away with broken leg and wing artifices. The pencil outlines for the painting are a real triumph in patience, heat and mosquitoes.
Eastern North America from southern British provinces west to edge of Great Plains, south in Winter to Gulf Coast.