THE SONG AND NOTES OF BIRDS. 95 



gists, and to allude to one or two points of interest 

 which have been most unaccountably overlooked. 



A word as to the origin of Song. I am not a con- 

 vert to the theory that music or the instinct of song 

 in nature is but the outward expression of the feel- 

 ings of exuberant internal joy, believing firmly as I 

 do in the universal prevalence of Utilitarian Cause. 

 The more I study the intricate and difficult subject, 

 the more I am convinced that Song originated in 

 Sexual Rivalry, developed and perfected, fostered 

 and increased by that stronger and more assertive 

 vitality which almost without exception is so 

 characteristic of all male birds, including those with 

 any pretensions to musical skill. I am, however, 

 quite prepared to admit that these musical acquire- 

 ments are employed also to express joy, and are 

 even widely indulged in as a pastime or pleasurable 

 diversion ; many species singing the year through- 

 out, save in the moulting season, even when sexual 

 rivalry is dormant. It is a rule ivithout exception, 

 that all birds sing their best when inspired by the 

 passion of Love, and that in no known songster 

 does this music show the faintest decline in power 

 at the season when amorous instincts are pre- 

 dominant. It has been said that in those migrants 

 where the males precede the females (and the 



