INTRODUCTION. 
for, in such form the song is in a state of scientific preserva- 
tion, which is more than may be said of a lack of musical 
knowledge! The time has already come when most of the 
advanced school children of Boston and New York can tell 
us exactly the difference between the chromatic and dia- 
tonic scales. A piano and a Canary may not be unmixed 
blessings in the house, but no one has yet ventured to sug- 
gest the home is blessed which boasts nor bird nor music! 
The correction of errors in text and music which must 
inevitably enter a book of this kind in spite of the greatest 
vigilance cannot always be successfully accomplished by 
one pair of eyes. In this connection I am greatly indebted 
to Mr. Henry L. Mason of Boston for his valuable sugges- 
tions and kindly interest in the work. It should also be 
borne in mind that for one who has always lived both in 
town and country in an atmosphere of music, the many 
allusions to musical parallelism within these pages are be- 
lieved to be as interesting and useful to others as to himself; 
and again, with respect to musical pitch, a vitally import- 
ant point in the transcription of bird-music, it should be 
explained that a musical mind is adept in carrying the key 
of C without assistance of instrument or pitch pipe. If 
it were not so the significant T’wice or Thrice Sva. which 
appears over my notations would not be so constantly em- 
ployed. In certain cases—for example, the Warblers and 
the Cuckoos—musical pitch is an indubitable indication of 
the species! 
It should not be necessary for me to add that the piano 
arrangements here are meant solely to demonstrate the 
musical content of the bird’s song. Bird-notes can scarcely 
be recognized with the assistance of the piano. If one 
desires a tonal imitation of the song it must be whistled in 
accordance with its notation and in exact pitch, no other 
way will answer. 
F. ScHuyLeER MATHEWS. 
Cambridge, Mass. 
Vili 
