WOOD NOTES WILD. 5 



age, through her grand music crucible, and the precious 

 essence given to the birds. 



Though the birds expressed themselves vocally ages 

 before there were human ears to hear them, it is hardly to 

 be supposed that their early singing bore much resem- 

 blance to the bird music of to-day. It is not at all likely 

 that on some fine morning, too far back for reckoning, the 

 world was suddenly and for the first time flooded with 

 innumerable bird songs, and that ever since birds have 

 sung as they then sang and as they sing now. There 

 were no reporters to tell us when the birds began to sing, 

 but the general history of human events chronicles the 

 interest with which birds and bird-singing have been 

 regarded by the nations of the past, leaving us to infer 

 that when men and birds became acquainted, the birds 

 were already singing. 



It would seem, then, that our bird music is a thing of 

 growth, and of very slow growth. The tall walkers and 

 squawkers having gradually acquired the material ma- 

 chinery for song, and the spirit of song being pent up 

 within them, they were ultimately compelled to make 

 music, to sing. 



Dare we hazard a few crude conjectures as to the 

 details of this growth ? Every musical student is aware 

 that there are certain tones which, if produced at the 

 same moment, harmonize, merge one into another, with 

 most pleasing effect. Our scale of eight tones represents 

 the order of intervals throughout the whole realm of 



