So.y(7S A. YD Call Notes. 171 



to abuse us in her ordinarv harsh hiu^nia^c. This 

 generally lia[)pone(l whilst the male was warhlinn' 

 away his hardest in some bushes not far away, 

 so that there could be no mistaking the sex of 

 the angry songster. Then there is the well-known 

 case ot the Si'dgc Warbler. 1 f a stone or clod of 

 earth bo thrown into some bush wherein a menibii- 

 of this s[)ecies is sleeping, the startled bird at once 

 commences to sing, which performance can hardly 

 be considered as anything in the nature of a vote 

 of thanks for being so I'udely awakened from its 

 slumbers. 



An interesting thing, by the way, about siuil;' is 

 that only birds and men have the power of stirring 

 the emotions ot' tbeii- kind b\- means ol its exercise. 



I Hud ehil<h-en almost unanimous in the beliet' that 

 birds sing with their bills. 1 suppose it was the 

 possession ot' this erroneous idea whirh made bird 

 fanciers of old split the tongues of untortunate .lack- 

 daws and Starlinirs in order to make them talk all 



o 



the better. T once met one of these individuals, who 

 was under the tirm convietion that no bird could talk 

 or sing well unless it had had its tongue divided by 

 means of a six[)ence ground sharp ! 



I)ii-d notes are produced, as a matter of fact, deep 

 down the windpipe, at a })oint where it branches 

 otV into bron(diial tubes, the business of which is 

 to convey air to and from the lungs. At this point 

 is fixed a delicate little mend)rane which produces 

 the note of every bird that Hies. Of course, variation 



