BIRD MUSIC 145 



produced indirectly and forms but a slight element in 

 the aesthetic effect. 



There is, besides expression, another thing not often 

 taken into account wliich makes some bird melodies 

 impress us more than others — the state of mind, or 

 mood, we are in and the conditions in which it is heard. 

 Yet it makes a world of difference even in the songs 

 of species which we love best for their intrinsic beauty. 

 The curious tiling is that after hearing a particular bird 

 music in exceptionally favourable circumstances the 

 hearer should become convinced that this musician is the 

 best. It may not be at its best on the next occasion 

 of hearing it, or ever again, but the image of the intense 

 pleasure it once produced persists in his mind and the 

 delusion remains. 



There are states of the atmosphere when distant ob- 

 jects seem near and all Nature takes on a rare loveliness 

 which makes it like a new earth. There are states, too, 

 when bird sounds seem purer, brighter, more resonant 

 than at other times, in some instances surprising us 

 with new and mysteriously beautiful qualities. 



After copious rains in summer there is often a tender 

 silveriness in the sunlit air, the effect of abundant 

 moisture; and on such occasions we sometimes note a 

 difference in bird songs and cries, as if they, too, like 

 all else, had been washed and purified ; and just as we 

 inhale the new delicious air into our lungs we take the 

 new melody into our souls. In this case the exhilarat- 

 ing effect of the newly washed and brightened air and 

 sight of the blue sky after the depressing cloud has 



