BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 33 



The blackbird's song everybody knows, but I have 

 found that only the closer observers of Nature have noticed 

 how it differs from that of other birds. Michael Drayton was, 

 I think, the first : 



" The woosell that hath a golden bill 

 As Nature him had mark't of purpose, t' let us see 

 That from all other birds his tune should different be ; 

 For with their vocal sounds they sing to pleasant May, 

 Upon his dulcet pipe the merle doth only play." 



The old English somewhat obscures the meaning, which is, 

 that while all other birds " sing" with their throats, the black- 

 bird alone "plays" upon a pipe. This "dulcet pipe" occurs 

 in other poets, and two or three, Wordsworth, for instance, 

 speak of "blackbird pipers." It is almost the only bird said 

 to ''whistle" and to "flute." The distinction is just, for it 

 is, I think, the only European songster whose melody so 

 curiously suggests artificial assistance. No voice is so com- 

 pletely a bird's voice as the nightingale's, but the blackbird, when 

 at its best, is the master playing on some exquisite instru- 

 ment. So the ear that has once distinguished the difference 

 can never mistake the blackbird for the thrush. It is, too, 

 perhaps the only bird that sings its best in captivity. 

 There used to be one in an inn in Epping Forest that 

 outsang all the wild birds within hearing. 



Why do caged birds sing, if singing is the expression of 

 happiness and joy ? That human beings should, by the exer- 



