THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC. 3 



times through pleasurable expectation, sometimes during the 

 gratifications of eating, sometimes from a general content while 

 seeking about for food. The Heatings of sheep, again, occur 

 under the promptings of various feelings, usually of no great 

 intensity : social and maternal rather than sexual. The like holds 

 with the lowing of cattle. Nor is it otherwise with poultry. The 

 quacking of ducks indicates general satisfaction, and the screams 

 occasionally vented by a flock of geese seem rather to express a 

 wave of social excitement than anything else. Save after laying 

 an egg, when the sounds have the character of triumph, the duck- 

 ings of a hen show content ; and on various occasions cock-crow- 

 ing apparently implies good spirits only. In all cases an overflow 

 of nervous energy has to find vent ; and while in some cases it 

 leads to wagging of the tail, in others it leads to contraction of 

 the vocal muscles. That this relation holds, not of one kind of 

 feeling, but of many kinds, is a truth which seems to me at vari- 

 ance with the view " that the vocal organs were primarily used 

 and perfected in relation to the propagation of the species." 



The hypothesis that music had its origin in the amatory sounds 

 made by the male to charm the female, has the support of the 

 popular idea that the singing of birds constitutes a kind of court- 

 ship an idea adopted by Mr. Darwin when he says that " the 

 male pours forth his full volume of song, in rivalry with other 

 males, for the sake of captivating the female." Usually, Mr. 

 Darwin does not accept without criticism and verification, the 

 beliefs he finds current ; but in this case he seems to have done 

 so. Even cursory observation suffices to dissipate this belief, 

 initiated, I suppose, by poets. In preparation for dealing with 

 the matter I have made memoranda concerning various song- 

 birds, dating back to 1883. On the 7th of February of that year 

 I heard a lark singing several times ; and, still more remarkably, 

 during the mild winter of 1884- 1 saw one soar, and heard it sing, 

 on the 10th January. Yet the lark does not pair till March. 

 Having heard the redbreast near the close of August, 1888, 1 noted 

 the continuance of its song all through the autumn and winter, 

 up to Christmas eve, Christmas day, the 29th of December, and 

 again on the 18th January, 1889. How common is the singing of 

 the thrush during mild weather in winter, every one must have 

 observed. The presence of thrushes behind my house has led to 

 the making of notes on this point. The male sang in November, 

 1889 ; I noted the song again on Christmas eve, again on the loth 

 January, 1890, and from time to time all through the rest of that 

 month. I heard little of his song in February, which is the pair- 

 ing season ; and none at all, save a few notes early in the morn- 

 ing, during the period of rearing the young. But now that, in 

 the middle of May, the young, reared in a nest in my garden, have 



