BIRD MUSIC 23 



continuously during the day. The grosbeak has a 

 pleasing warble reminding one of the robin. The 

 brown thrasher's notes suggest an orchestra. The 

 goldfinch has been well named the "wild canary." 

 The song of the vesper sparrow has a subdued, rest- 

 ful character, frequently heard in the late afternoon. 

 Probably the first place among the bird musicians 

 should be given to one of the thrushes. There is a 

 resonant, ringing, penetrating character about their 

 notes that it is impossible to describe. 



Mr. Wilson Flagg writes in his "A Year with the 

 Birds": — 



The singing birds with reference to their songs are dis- 

 tinguishable into four classes: The rapid singers, whose 

 song is iminterrupted, of considerable length, and deliv- 

 ered in apparent ecstasy, like the bobolink; the moderate 

 singers, whose notes are slowly modulated, without 

 pauses or rests between the different strains, like the 

 robin and veery; the interrupted singers, who sometimes 

 modulate their notes with rapidity, but make a distinct 

 pause after each strain, like the red thrush and hermit 

 thrush. The fourth class includes birds whose lay con- 

 sists only of two or three notes, not sufficient to be called 

 a song, like the bluebird and golden robin. 



Variations in songs. A study of bird songs soon 

 shows that while the songs of different birds of a 

 given species are much alike in the rhythm, there 

 is a great variation in different individuals in the 

 notes used and in the excellence of rendering, so 

 that the ear trained to bird music soon distinguishes 



