96 Idylls of the Field. 



have listened to their voices say that their speech 

 betrays them. 



According to the method of the Swedish naturalist 

 Sundevall about one-fourth of all known birds are 

 placed together, in a class called Osdnes, at the head 

 of the list. 



In this division are reckoned the warblers, thrushes, 

 larks, linnets, and finches — in fact, all the birds that 

 sing, as well as a good many, such as the crow and his 

 clan, which are not musical at all. 



Birds outside this pale have no gift of song what- 

 ever. We listen with delight to the cooing of the 

 dove, to the cry of the cuckoo, to the whistle of the 

 plover, but none of these rises to the dignity of a 

 song. 



It is considered by some ornithologists that if birds 

 were classified according to their brain-power, their 

 'wit and wisdom,' and the completeness of their 

 organization, the raven would take the first place. 

 And although his natural note is harsh in the extreme, 

 he is found to possess the muscles of song in a high 

 state of development. 



Once, indeed, according to the legend, he was a 

 bird of rare plumage and melodious song. But his 

 gifts were taken from him by the gods in punishment 

 for vanity and disobedience. 



The song-muscles, however, remain ; and this is no 

 doubt the reason why the raven learns to copy with 

 such startling clearness the language of his captors. 



