SONGS. 187 



should they sing while sitting on their eggs. But 

 before drawing such a conclusion, it would have 

 been well to make sure of the fact. It is certainly 

 true as a general position, that female birds do not 

 sing; yet many exceptions have been recorded. 

 We possess, at present, in the same aviary with two 

 greenbirds and an aberdevine (Carduelis spinus), a 

 female canary who sings a great deal. Her notes 

 indeed are harsh and unmusical, but are both loud 

 and uttered in a full and sustained tone of voice, 

 though altogether unlike the notes either of the 

 male canary or of any other bird with which we are 

 acquainted. It is no less worthy of remark, that 

 this female canary is never excited to rivalry by the 

 songs of a number of other birds in the same apart- 

 ment, as the cocks of every species commonly are ; 

 for she usually remains silent, during the attempts 

 of the others to sing each other down, and prefers 

 singing at night when the others are for the most 

 part silent. We have also remarked, in birds rear- 

 ed from the nest, that the females will record, as it 

 is termed, the first rehearsal, warbling in the low 

 preluding manner peculiar to all birds some time 

 before coming into full song. This was particular- 

 ly the case with the greenbirds just mentioned, 

 and one female greenbird will at present record in 

 a similar manner, while her brother of the same 

 age begins to sing in good earnest. 



Mr. Sweet, the well-known botanical writer, and 

 author of the " British Warblers," says that "fe- 

 males seldom sing: I had a female redstart which 

 sang a little ; and female bulfinches sing as fre- 

 quently as the males." Again, Mr. Sweet says, '-'I 

 have had several female birds which never attempt- 

 ed to sing; but now I have two that sing frequent- 

 ly; one is a female black-cap; she sings a note pe- 

 culiar to herself, and not the least like the male, or 

 any other bird with which I am acquainted. I kept 

 her several years before she began to sing. I have 



