INTRODUCTION TO SOME SPECIES 41 



tails were superfluous appendages, but no doubt they 

 serve the birds a useful purpose as rudders and balanc- 

 ing-poles. The magpie presents a handsome picture as 

 he swings through the air, the iridescent black gleaming 

 in the sun, beautifully set off with snowy-white trim- 

 mings on both the upper and lower surfaces of the 

 wings. On the perch or on the wing he is an ornament 

 to any landscape. As to his voice — w^ell, he is a 

 genuine scjuawker. There is not, so far as I have ob- 

 served, a musical cord in his larynx,^ and I am sure he 

 does not profess to be a nuisical genius, so that my 

 criticism will do him no injury. All the use he has for 

 his voice seems to be to call his fellows to a new-found 

 ban(juet, or give warning of the approach of an inter- 

 loper upon his chosen preserves. His cry, if you climb 

 up to his nest, is quite pitiful, proving that he has real 

 love for his offspring. Perhaps the magpies have won 

 their chief distinction as architects. Their nests are 

 really remarkable structures, sometimes as large as 



1 In this volume the author has made use of the terminology 

 usually employed in describing bird music. Hence such words as 

 " song," " chant," *' vocal cords," etc., are of frequent occurrence. 

 In reality the writer's personal view is that the birds are whistlers, 

 pipers, fluters, and not vocalists, none of the sounds they produce 

 being real voice tones. The reader who may desire to go into this 

 matter somewhat technically is referred to Maurice Thompson's 

 chapter entitled "The Anatoniy of Bird-Song" in his "Sylvan 

 Secrets," and the author's article, " Are Birds Singers or Whis- 

 tlers?" in "Our Animal Friends" for June, 1901. 



