BIRDS OF THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD. 45 



not enchain the listener ; but they constitute an important 

 part of the melodies of morn. 



The value of the inferior singers in making up a 

 general chorus is not sufficiently appreciated. In a musi- 

 cal composition, as in an anthem or oratorio, though there 

 is a leading part, which is usually the air, that gives char- 

 acter to the whole, yet this leading part would often be a 

 very indifferent piece of melody if performed without its 

 accompaniments ; and these alone would seem still more 

 trifling and unimportant. Yet, if the composition be the 

 work of a master, these brief strains and snatches, though 

 apparently insignificant, are intimately connected with 

 the harmony of the piece, and could not be omitted with- 

 out a serious disparagement of the grand effect. The 

 inferior singing-birds, bearing a similar relation to the 

 whole choir, are indispensable as aids in giving additional 

 effect to the notes of the chief singers. 



Though the Robin is the principal musician in the gen- 

 eral anthem of morn, his notes would become tiresome 

 if heard without accompaniments. Nature has so ar- 

 ranged the harmony of this chorus, that one part shall 

 assist another ; and so exquisitely has she combined all 

 the different voices, that the silence of any one cannot 

 fail to be immediately perceived. The low, mellow war- 

 ble of the Bluebird seems an echo to the louder voice 

 of the Robin ; and the incessant trilling or running ac- 

 companiment of the Hair-Bird, the twittering of the 

 Swallow, and the loud, melodious piping of the Oriole, 

 frequent and short, are sounded like the different parts 

 in a band of instruments, and each performer seems 

 to time his part as if by some rule of harmony. Any 

 discordant sound that may occur in this performance 

 never fails to disturb the equanimity of the singers, and 

 some minutes will elapse before they resume their song. 

 It would be difficult to draw a correct comparison be- 



