282 On the Singing of Birds. 



in birds (for that I consider to be implied by the question, 

 " Why do birds sing?") are chiefly original. 

 Take any song bird, 



" Cheerful tenant of the bough ; " 



say the nightingale, 



" Sweet songstress of the night," 



than whose, none of our woodland songsters' sounds are so 

 full, so prolonged, so harmonious, especially when our ears 

 are greeted 



" At the silent solemn hour, 

 When night and morning meet; " 



when so sweetly pouring from his tiny throat 



" A cadence soft and holy 



As the gentlest song of earth ; 

 Too blithe for melancholy, 

 Too calm by far for mirth ; " 



I say, take any song bird, and we shall soon perceive the 

 difference between the melodious warblings of these interest- 

 ing and innocent creatures, and the horrid scream of the 

 " carcass-loving vulture." 



[The Means by which Singing Birds sing.~\ — The jFrin- 

 gillidae and the Sylviadae appear to be the two principal 

 families upon which the voice of song has been conferred ; and, 

 therefore, a reference to the structure of their organs of song 

 will be necessary to answer the question proposed. If we 

 listen attentively to the warblings of our various little song- 

 sters (and, if with a musical ear, our gratification will be greatly 

 increased), we shall find that each species has a scale of notes 

 peculiar to itself, and, also, peculiar modulations of voice; hence, 

 to form a correct judgment of the formation of their varied 

 and beautiful intonations, it may not be improper to delineate 

 the organ by which those various and melodious strains are 

 produced ; and, also, by way of comparison, the organ of voice 

 in those species of the feathered race which are denied song. 

 [See mjigs. 38. and 39.] 



To any one wholly unacquainted with the construction of the 

 organ of song in birds, it must appear a matter of very great 

 surprise, how an instrument so small, and possessing so much 

 simplicity, should produce such an almost endless variety of 

 sounds ; but the strength and compass of the voice of a song 

 bird depend on the size and proportionate force of the larynx, 

 which, in the female, is small and weak ; and which, I think, 

 in a great measure, accounts for her want of song, or, at least, 



