bob Correspondence. LOct. 



ation does appear occasionally in bird songs, it is of very slight importance 

 and should be classed as a minor factor under the heading ot " quality ", 

 which covers also the much more important factor of "over-tones" or 

 the so-called "harmonics" of a tone. These do exist in many bird tones 

 and are the cause of the difference between the simple, clear-whistled tone 

 of the Piping Plover and the complex rich tone of the Wood Thrush. 



There remain but two of Mr. Saunders' "points" to consider, pitch and 

 duration. "Pitch" is truly a very important, factor and, with the possible 

 exception of time, the most important of all, for from pitch we gain some 

 idea of the bird's intuitive knowledge of the fundamental relations of one 

 tone to another. It should be represented with exactitude, if that is possible. 

 Now there are of course in some songs notes which seem patently dis- 

 cordant with the rest of the song. And in regard to these Mr. Saunders 

 would have his readers believe that his method of notation is an improve- 

 ment, because it records them. But does it? Helmholtz's study of sound 

 proves that in order to represent a discordant note out of harmony even 

 in the natural scale ; it would be necessary to have a staff, composed of 

 at least 528 horizontal lines for the one octave between Middle C and the 

 next C above it, instead of the 12 of this new system, for there are at least 

 that many possible tones within the compass of that octave. And for the 

 octave, which is used to confine the song of the Vesper Sparrow, there 

 would have to be at least 4224 different lines to record one song! Such a 

 system I imagine would be too cumbersome even for Mr. Saunders. The 

 fact is that our author has not tried to represent flatted and sharped notes 

 with accuracy, but merely to indicate that they are flat or sharp. This is 

 of no advantage to another song-student, for unless the flatted note is 

 indicated precisely, it is impossible to be sure it was not an harmonically 

 true note in the more complex natural scale, which the birds probably use. 

 Every student of music knows that the modern scale of twelve notes and 

 its method of notation is a condensation of the natural scale for the sake 

 of simplicity and convenience. On the other hand the proposed system 

 is more cumbersome without insuring one whit more of accuracy. It is 

 a more cumbersome one, because it requires 12 lines instead of 5 to record 

 a simple song and, for a song of great range such as the Hermit Thrush's, 

 would require 36 lines, whereas the whole of that master song, ascending 

 and descending over the confines of three octaves, can be neatly recorded 

 by the old method on a staff of 5 lines! This new method is not so accurate 

 for the recording of pitch, because short horizontal lines are employed 

 against a horizontal staff instead of the vertical line crowned with a clear 

 round dot. Indeed it is very difficult to determine from Mr. Saunders' 

 printed records, when he is attempting to record a note on the pitch and 

 when a trifle off of it. 



It is at once apparent that the horizontal line is used for "pitch" in order 

 that the vertical may be reserved for "duration." Indeed our whole system 

 of notation, the evolution of centuries, has been changed in order to record 

 this one thing, which has always been ranked by musicians as of very slight 

 importance, e. g. the duration of a song in seconds. The length of a song 



