ORIGIN OF SONG 159 



I watch Yellow Buntings on a furze-covered 

 common, I find that, establishing themselves 

 early in February, they sing persistently, and 

 in a few weeks are paired. But what arrests 

 my attention more particularly is the quality 

 of the song ; for although the voice is un- 

 mistakably the voice of the Yellow Bunting, 

 yet it is incomplete and lacks the variety of 

 phrases and musical notation which we custom- 

 arily associate with the bird. Nevertheless, as 

 the season advances, there is a progressive 

 development in both these directions, and by 

 the end of IVIarch or the beginning of April the 

 song possesses all those qualities which appeal 

 to us so forcibly. 



There is one other fact to which attention 

 must be drawn — the variation in the song of 

 the same species in different districts. As an 

 illustration let us take the case of the Chaffinch. 

 In Worcestershire the bird sings what I imagine 

 to be a normal song — the notes are clear and 

 the phrases are distinct and combined in 

 numerous ways. With the notes fresh in 

 mind I leave them and go to the west of 

 Donegal, where I am at once conscious of a 

 difference ; not a subtle difference that per- 

 plexes the mind and is difficult to trace, but 

 a change so remarkable that one is conscious 

 of a passing doubt as to whether after all the 

 voice is the voice of the Chaffinch ; the song 

 is pitched in a lower key, certain phrases are 

 absent, the notes lack tone and are sometimes 

 even harsh, and the bird seems wholly in- 



