Why do some Birds Sing ? 243 



birds than of men have not caused me to change 

 my mind. 



Butvlet us go over the ground anew. Let us 

 take a somewhat careful survey of familiar bird- 

 life, such as we find it in the outskirts of all our 

 towns. By so doing we will free ourselves of 

 many wrong impressions, especially that common 

 one that every bird of a given species is like all 

 its fellows. There is as much individuality among 

 birds as among men. It will be noticed, too, at 

 the very outset, that not all birds sing, and yet 

 not one of them is mute. Of course, it will be 

 very necessary in such an investigation to distin- 

 guish between utterances that, while harsh to our 

 ears, may not be so to the bird, and not set down 

 as an exclamation of surprise or fear what may be 

 one of soothing import to the utterer or its in- 

 terested hearer. There is one note, or rather a 

 brief series of notes, uttered by the crow that 

 probably should come under the heading of song ; 

 and every one who is familiar with our blue-jay 

 knows that at times it trills a few flute-like notes 

 that are very musical. Here are instances where, 

 in the case of a crow, we might go astray, while 



