304 “ Birdlover ”



me round chairs and sofas, and which met a tragic death by being

trodden on.


These birds of moor and fen, of crag and torrent and wood¬

land are delightful, and although aviculturists who have the oppor¬

tunity and the means, naturally like to acquire rare foreigners, to

my ears the most beautiful bird voices are still those such as the

joyous piping of our song thrush, the fluting of the blackbird, the

merry twitter of the linnet, or the “ little-bit-of-bread-and-no-cheese”

of the yellow hammer, in their own haunts.



BIRD SONG.


By “ Birdlover,”


The Kiss of the Sun for Pardon,


The song of the birds for mirth,


One is nearer God’s heart in a Garden

Than anywhere else on earth.


Quite unconsciously when one thinks of the song of the birds,

one connects their voices with gladness and beauty, spring days with

their sunshine and flowers and the riotous loveliness of early summer.

And it is quite true that spring and summer, lovely as they are in

their green verdure and wealth of flowers, would lose immeasurably

if it were not for the many sweet bird voices, which each year set

the woodlands ringing,” with their joyous notes. How could we

welcome spring without the blackbirds’ mellow song, and what would

the bluebells do without the cuckoo to waken them from their long

sleep? But it is not only during the “glad” season that the birds’

voices are heard ; whatever time of the year it may be, you have

only to go out of doors and listen and you will hear the birds singing,

or rather talking to each other; for song is the language of the bii'ds.


Before proceeding further, it will be best to define exactly what

we mean by song. For lack of a better word we may describe song

as the sound, or sounds, which a bird produces. This may consist

(l) of a few simple notes, as in the case of crows and gulls ; or (2) of

a highly specialised collection of notes, as those of the blackbird and

nightingale. There are no doubt many who will disagree with this

definition, and will argue that the “caw, caw ” of a rook is not a



