BIRD-SONGS. 46 



careful experiments have shown the same to be 

 true of birds.^ Taken from the nest just after 

 they leave the shell, they invariably sing, not 

 their own so-called natural song, but the song 

 of their foster-parents; provided, of course, 

 that this is not anything beyond their physi- 

 cal capacity. The notorious house sparrow (our 

 " English " sparrow), in his wild or semi-domes- 

 ticated state, never makes a musical sound ; but 

 if he is taken in hand early enough, he may be 

 taught to sing, so it is said, nearly as well as 

 the canary. Bechstein relates that a Paris 

 clergyman had two of these sparrows whom he 

 had trained to speak, and, among other things, 

 to recite several of the shorter commandments ; 

 and the narrative goes on to say that it was 

 sometimes very comical, when the pair were 

 disputing over their food, to hear one gravely 

 admonish the other, " Thou shalt not steal ! " 

 It would be interesting to know why creatures 

 thus gifted do not sing of their own motion. 

 With their amiability and sweet peaceable- 

 ness they ought to be caroling the whole year 

 round. 



This question of the transmission of songs 

 from one generation to another is, of course, a 



1 See the paper of Daines Barrington in Philosophical Transac- 

 tions for 1773; also, Darwin's Descent of Man, and Wallace's 

 Natural Selecti^on. 



