12 INTRODUCTION. 



the shark, and the slapping of the tail of the cod, or the lively 

 " dirl " in the boat of the new-caught flounder or skate. But 

 all miserable — most miserable apologies for music, compared 

 with the notes of our cheerful choristers of the grove or sky. 



Nor is the rattle of the snake or the hiss of the serpent one 

 whit better for adding to the musical harmony of the world — 

 the braying of the ass or grunting of the swine being still less 

 so, although the shriek of the poor pig just before death is a 

 desperate attempt at the higher notes ; but still a failure — a 

 discordant failure after all. 



The gentle whinny of the affectionate mare or shrill neigh of 

 the hardy Shetland stallion come nearer to what might be 

 forced into the ranks of music — and I may add the gentle bleating 

 of the lamb and the low soothing purr of the kitten ; but scared 

 music flies away when we think of the dreadful roar of the lion 

 or the dismal howl of the wolf — not to speak of the fiend-like 

 laugh of the hyena. None of them — no, not even the guttural 

 grunt of the intelligent elephant, can reconcile my mind into the 

 belief that any one of them can approach the very outskirts of 

 the sweet notes of the blackbird, the mavis, the Untie, or the 

 lark. 



But as it is not so much the musical qualities of our feathered 

 friends as their general habits I wish to write about, I had better 

 begin to tell what I know about them, and in the order generally 

 followed by our standard ornithologists. Those who wish to 

 study "tracheas, entrails, and vents," had better consult Dr 

 Macgillivray's very useful but rather prolix work on the 

 "British Birds," which extends to five large and important 

 volumes — a work, however, whose chief feature struck me as 

 being to suck the good out of previous authors, adding what he 

 knew personally, with the new feature of a minute description 

 and measurements of tracheas, gizzards, and entrails of the birds 

 — a perfectly legitimate and useful mode of authorship if less 

 egotistically done, as we must all learn from others as well as 

 from the open book of Nature — even in poetry and song, witness 

 the many fine lyrics so wisely and so well collected and im- 

 proved by our national bard, Eobert Burns ; but he did not 

 borrow from and improve upon the work of his predecessors, 

 then cavil at them for what they had done. 



After devoting fourteen pages of foolscap describing the 

 pharynx, gullet, glottis, trachea, olfactory nerves, &c, the 

 learned Doctor winds up by saying — " Observations like these 

 may appear unnecessary to the persons who view birds merely 



