154 WOOD NOTES WILD. 



White-throated Sparrow. — Contin. 



" The harsh screams of the cluckiug hen came up from a gloomy gorge, 

 and from the summit of the mountain were faintly heard the lengthened 

 flute-like notes, in measured cadence, of the solitaire.^ Then mocking- 

 birds all around broke into song, pouring forth their rich gushes and 

 powerful bursts of melody, with a profusion that filled the ear, and over- 

 powered all the other varied voices, which were by this time too numerous 

 to be separately distinguished, but which all helped to swell the morning 

 concert of woodland music." — Gosse, P. H. : Romance of Kat. Hist., pp. 17-18. 



Por night songs see Index, Night Songs. 



Ehythm. 



The author asserts of the white-throated sparrow that 

 the " charm of his song lies in the rhythm." The writers 

 on bird music are quite at odds on the point of rhythm. 

 Mr. Maurice Thompson says : — 



" There is no such an element as the rhythmic beat in any bird-song 

 that I have heard. Modulation and fine shades of ' color,' as the musical 

 critic has it, together with melodious phrasing, take the place of rhythm. 

 The meadow-lark, in its mellow fluting, comes very near to a measure of 

 two rhythmic beats, and the mourning dove puts a throbbing cadence into 

 its plaint ; but the accent which the human ear demands is wholly want- 

 ing in each case. 



" The absence of true rhythm probably is significant of a want of power 

 to appreciate genuine music, the bird's comprehension compassing no more 

 than the value of sweet sounds merely as such." — Thompson, M. : Sylvan 

 Secrets, pp. 77, 83. 



Mr. Thompson offers the suggestion that the "chief 

 difference between the highest order of bird-music and the 

 lowest order of man-music is expressed by the word 

 rhythm." It is more natural to suspect that the order of 

 development in bird melody is similar to that in human 

 melody, hence that rhythm is the first step. At any rate, 

 1 See Index, Solitaire. 



