BIRD-SONGS. 45 
careful experiments have shown the same to be 
true of birds.| Taken from the nest just after 
they leave the shell, they invariably sing, not 
their own so-called natural song, but the song 
of their foster- parents; provided, of course, 
that this is not anything beyond their physi- 
eal capacity. The notorious house sparrow (our 
“ English ”’ sparrow), in his wild or semi-domes- 
ticated state, never makes a musical sound; but 
if he is taken in hand early enough, he may be 
taught to sing, so it is said, nearly as well as 
the canary. Bechstein relates that a Paris 
clergyman had two of these sparrows whom he 
had trained to speak, and, among other things, 
to recite several of the shorter commandments ; 
and the narrative goes on to say that it was 
sometimes very comical, when the pair were 
disputing over their food, to hear one gravely 
admonish the other, “ Thou shalt not steal!” 
It would be interesting to know why creatures 
thus gifted do not sing of their own motion. 
With their amiability and sweet peaceable- 
ness they ought to be caroling the whole year 
round. : 
This question of the transmission of songs 
from one generation to another is, of course, a 
1 See the paper of Daines Barrington in Philosophical Transac- 
tions for 1773; also, Darwin’s Descent of Man, and Wallace’s 
Natural Selection. — 
