184 BULLETIN NO. VII. 
‘‘This was seldom given, yet quite often enough to allow it to 
be written down on board. The second measure would be sung 
quite fast, sounding almost like the pecking of a woodpecker 
on a tree, and at other times it would be slow like the dropping 
of water. Although she had no ear for time, yet she would 
keep to the key of b (two flats). and strictly in a major key. 
This fact I consider interesting, as Wood declares his belief ‘that 
the untaught cries of all the lower animals, whether quadru- 
peds or birds, are in the minor key.’ Herein theory must yield 
to observation. If I might venture an opinion, it would be 
that the music of the really musical wild animals is oftener on 
a major key, while the minor key characterizes savage man. 
A remarkable fact in the above role is the scope of little Hespie’s 
musical powers. Her soft. clear voice falls an octave with all 
the precision possible; then, at the wind-up, it rises again into 
a quick trill on c sharp and d. 
‘‘Though it be at the risk of taxing belief yet I must, in duty, 
record one of Hespie’s most remarkable performances. She 
was gamboling in the large compartment of her cage, ina mood 
indicating intense animal enjoyment, having awoke from a long 
sleep, and partaken of some favorite food. She burst into a 
fullness of song very rich in its variety. While running and 
jumping, she rolled off what I have called her Grand Role; then 
sitting, she went over it again, ringing out the strangest diver- 
sity of changes, by an almost whimsical transposition of the 
bars; then, without for an instant stopping the music, she leapt 
into the wheel, started it revolving at its highest speed, 
and went through the wheel song in exquisite style, giving © 
several repetitions of it. After this she returned to the large 
compartment, took up again the Grand Role, and put into it 
some variations of execution which astonished me. One meas- 
ure, I remember, was so silvery and soft that I said to a lady 
who was listening, that a canary able to execute that would be 
worth a hundred dollars. (I occasionally detected what I am 
unable to explain, a literal dual sound, very like a boy whist: 
ling as he draws a stick along the pickets of a fence.) So the 
music went on, as I listened, watch in hand, until actually nine 
minutes had elapsed. Now the wonderful fact is, that the rest 
between the roles was never more than a second of time, and 
during all the singing, the muscles could be seen in vigorous 
action through the entire length of the abdomen. This feat 
would be impossible to a professional singer, and the nearest 
to it that I have seen was the singing of a bird in the grove. 
