WHY BIRDS SING IN THE NIGHT. 309 



The canse of the nocturnal singing of birds that do not 

 go abroad during the night, and are strictly diurnal in .1 

 he:r other habits, has never been rationally expla ^^ 

 bid ThoT '' ''r -^iPP-rwill, which is 'a nocturn 

 bid should smg during his hours of .vakefulness and 

 activity, and we may explain why ducks and o-eese ad 

 other social birds, should utter their alann-noClh n 

 they meet with any midnight disturbance. The crowino- 



tX7^ r-V^^^ ""'''' ""^"^^-^^ ^^ '^'^ «°"g <^f birds! 



V 1 r^^ ''°*^ ^ ^^"^^ °^ ^^"'^"^^- This domestic bird 



might therefore be considered a nocturnal songster, thouoh 



we do not hear him at evening twilight. The cock sint 



doir 7 Y'' T- ^f ' ''''^''''- ^' ''''''' ^' the earliest 

 cla^v^l and at midnight when he is wakened by the lio-ht 



of the moon, and by artificial liglit. Many birds are ac- 

 customed to prolong their notes after sunset to a late hour 

 and become silent only to begin anew at the earliest dav- 

 break. But the habit of singing in the night is peculiar 

 to a small number of birds, and the cause of it is a curious 

 subject of inquiry. 



By what means are tliey qualified to endure such ex- 

 treme watchfulness, -singing and providing for their off- 

 spring during the day, then becoming wakeful and musical 

 during the night ? Why do they take pleasure in sinoino- 

 when no one will come in answer to their call ? Have 

 they their worsliip like religious beings; and are their 

 midnight lays but the fervent outpouring of their devo- 

 tions ? Do they rejoice like tlie clouds in the presence 

 of the moon, hailing her beams as a pleasant relief from 

 the darkness that has surrounded them ? Or in the 

 silence of the night, are their songs but responses to the 

 sounds of the trees, when they bow their heads and shake 

 their rustling leaves to the wind ? When they listen to 

 the streamlet that makes audible melodv in the hush of 

 night, do they not answer to it from their leafy percfi ? 



