APPENDIX. 193 



Bobolink. — Contin. 



il mulk " (God alone is king, etc.) ; we may absolutely 

 refuse to listen to Bechstein's dreadful zozozos and 

 tsissisis and kigaigais saddled on the prima donna of all 

 the choirs of air, — but this simple " Liberty, liberty " 

 song, together with certain happy syllables of Emerson 

 and a very few others, may well be allowed to stand. 



" Mounting and hovering on wing at a small height above the field, he 

 chants out such a jingling medley of short, variable notes, uttered with 

 such seeming confusion and rapidity, and continued for a considerable 

 time, that it appears as if half a dozen birds of different kinds were all 

 singing together. Some idea may be formed of this song by striking the 

 high keys of a pianoforte at random singly and quickly, making as many 

 sudden contrasts of high and low notes as possible. Many of the tones 

 are in themselves charming ; but they succeed each other so rapidly that 

 the ear can liardly separate them. Nevertheless, the general effect is 

 good ; and when ten or twelve are all singing on the same tree, the 

 concert ^ is singularly pleasing." — Wilson, A. : Amer. Ornithology, vol. ii. 

 (Phil. 1810), p. 50 



" [The sky-lark's song is] not very musical, not so rich as our bobolink's 

 roundelay." — Minot, H. D. : in Am. Nat, vol. xlv., 1880, p. 563. 



(Macgillivray says, "The song of the lark is certainly not musical.") 



For a bobolink in the role of a canary, see Litt. Liv. Age, vol. xxix., 

 1851, p. 312. 



1 " The bobolinks are very numerous around my home in Caledonia 

 County, Vt., and I once heard there what seemed to me a very remarkable 

 bobolink concert. There are two butternut-trees growing in the corner 

 of our garden, and my attention was attracted one day by an unusual 

 chattering from that quarter. Upon going near, I saw that the trees 

 were filled with bobolinks, every one of which was singing as loud as 

 he could sing. After a short time, one of their number flew away, and 

 to my surprise, every bird stopped singing. Soon they all began again, 

 not together, but one at a time. The first to begin sang the liquid 

 opening notes alone, and just as he started in with the rollicking song 

 that follows, a second struck in with the same sweet first notes, then 

 a third struck in at the same point in his song; and so it went on, until 

 they were all singing again, and under all the rollicking chatter vibrated 

 the tender undertone of the liquid notes that begin their song. I watched 



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