FAMILY Fringillide , 
melodic accomplishments of the Song Sparrow. <A 
few minutes’ examination of the records of both birds’ 
songs should be sufficient to convince the most ardent_ 
admirer of the Vesper Sparrow that his is not the ‘‘ best 
bird!” Some years ago I tried to learn through the 
books and various ornithological friends, what differ- 
ence there was between the songs of these two Spar- 
rows, but I tried in vain. That there was a difference, 
and a very distinct one too, was a foregone conclusion; 
but how to describe it—there was the rub! Since that 
time Mr. Chapman has published his Bird Life, and in 
that book he has explained the difference as well as it 
can be explained in afew words. But words are entirely 
inadequate to express a musical idea, and if I had: to 
demonstrate the nature of the Vesper’s song that way, I 
should supplement the words by lines, and say the struc- 
tural part of it resembled the gable end of a roof, thus: 
hao 
the first half ascending in four or five clearly whistled 
notes, and the last half descending in about as many 
high-pitched, rapid, canary-like chirps or trills. Now, 
suppose we resort to a series of dots to represent the 
song’s form: 
worn eee 
Thus, it will be seen the principle of the gable-roof lines 
is still maintained, and if one desires to hear the rhythm 
thus represented, it is at once obtained by tapping each 
dot carefully with a pencil. The music of the song 
properly written on the staff resembles the nursery 
melody of Lord Bateman: 
