CHAPTER V 



LEARNING BIRDS' SONGS AND NOTES 



THE person who can recognize the notes and 

 songs of birds has a great advantage in 

 studying them over those who do not. To 

 such a one the sound is the clear and certain announce- 

 ment by the bird of its presence. Standing quietly, 

 almost anywhere, he can say to a companion, here is 

 this bird, there is that, yonder is so and so, and al- 

 most at once name a dozen or two species that are 

 singing or calling in the immediate vicinity. If the 

 other be incredulous about some particular species, 

 he can listen again, take the bearings of the place 

 from which the sound proceeds, and then show the 

 bird to the doubter. 



They say that ** seeing is believing,'* but to a cer- 

 tain degree this is true of hearing, as well. Certain 

 bird songs are just as characteristic as are the visual 

 appearances of the birds. In a few cases birds can 

 imitate the notes of others, — as the blue jay the 

 scream of the red-shouldered hawk, but In the great 

 majority of cases no such imitations have ever been 

 recorded. Just as one can infallibly recognize 

 Chopin's ** Polonaise Militaire " or the Wedding 

 March from Lohengrin as soon as the first notes are 



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