i6 BIRDS IN TOWN AND VILLAGE 



wailing note, and the low, jarring sound — an 

 alternate lamenting and girding. One day when 

 I approached the nest, they displayed more 

 anxiety than usual, fluttering close to me, wailing 

 and croaking more vehemently than ever, when 

 all at once the male, at the height of his excite- 

 ment, burst into singing. Half a dozen notes 

 were uttered rapidly, with great strength, then 

 a small complaining cry again, and at intervals, 

 a fresh burst of melody. I have remarked the 

 same thing in other singing birds, species In 

 which the harsh grating or piercing sounds that 

 properly express violent emotions of a painful 

 kind, have been nearly or quite lost. In the night- 

 ingale, this part of the bird's language has lost 

 its original character, and has dwindled to some- 

 thing very small. Solicitude, fear, anger, are ex- 

 pressed with sounds that are mere lispings com- 

 pared with those emitted by the bird when sing- 

 ing. It is worthy of remark that some of the 

 most highly developed melodists — and I am now 

 thinking of the mocking-birds — never, in moments 

 of extreme agitation, fall into this confusion and 

 use singing notes that express agreeable emo- 

 tions, to express such as are painful. But in the 



