G FAMILY CHARACTERS. 



Yj'mg seasons from February until August in almost any suit- 

 able section which will offer sufficient food upon which to 

 rear their young. 



The following, is the explanation of the musical apparatus 

 of a typical Singing Pcrcher. Birds produce sounds, not as 

 with man, and most other mammals, with the upper, or superi- 

 or larynx, but with the lower or inferior larynx, situated just 

 above the junction of the bronchial tubes with the trachea, or 

 windpipe. ( See fig. 6, d, where a front view of a portion of 

 the windpipe, lower larynx, and bronchial tube is given, also, 

 fig. 8 where is given a side view of these parts in another spe- 

 cies). 



I will first give an explanation of the sound producing or- 

 gans. In fig. 7, I have given a cut of a side view of a portion 

 ot the windpipe, D, with one of the bronchial tubes removed, 

 leaving a cavity at v, thus exposing a small, thin, narrow 

 bone, known as the transverse bone, J, which extends from 

 the front to the back of the larynx, just above the junction of 

 the bronchial tubes. This bone maybe also seen in fig. 6, 

 A, where a transverse section of the larynx is given of another 

 species. 



The transverse bone supports a small membrane, known as 

 the semiluna membrane, which thus stands upright between 

 the bronchial tube, just as a re^d stands upright in an organ 

 tube. ( see fig. 7. ) 



The trachea or windpipe is m-ide up of bony rings which 

 completely encircle this organ, but in the bronchial tubes 

 these rings do not extend wholly around, but are interrupted 

 to a greater or less extent on the inside of the tube, hence are 

 known as the bronchial half rin^s. 



