88 



BIRDS, SONGS OF. 



lation ; in certain St. Andreasburg canaries it 

 has been cultivated almost to the exclusion of 

 other strains, and in most canaries it forms the 

 burden of the song. 



2. The flute-notes are long, clear, piping 

 tones, of flute-like quality, usually repeated 

 several times in immediate succession. The 

 finest of these tones have been acquired from 

 the nightingale, but they are more acute, and 

 by no means as full as the original model tones, 

 of which they are imitations. 



3. The water-notes are liquid and bubbling 

 tones, in the form of a trill. The bird-fancier 

 considers the water-roll one of the finest notes 

 of a good singer. Only occasionally is a can- 

 ary found having this note well developed, and 

 it then adds a novel attraction to the song. 



4. The most perfect of the bell-notes are al- 

 most a complete deception to the ear, so much 

 do they resemble the tinkling of small bells. 

 The birds that have the bell-notes well formed 

 are greatly prized in St. Andreasburg, command 

 a high price, and are seldom brought to this 

 country. The Procnias carunculata, of Brazil, 

 and the Myzantha melanophrys of Australia, 

 have natural bell-tones; but in the canary 

 these notes are acquired in some way of which 

 the writer has never been able to gain any ac- 

 count. The only member of the feathered 

 tribe that could have served as an instructor to 

 so little a bird as the canary, is a very small 

 South American bird, having perfect bell- 

 notes ; but it very soon dies in captivity. The 

 canary, then, though somewhat automatic and 

 imitative in its song, and devoid of originality, 

 is still to be numbered among the foremost 

 songsters. 



The Mocking-Bird (Mimus polyglottus). The 

 mocking-bird is accredited with greater musi- 

 cal gifts than any bird of the new continent, 

 and even so good an authority as Audubon in- 

 clines to the belief that it surpasses all other 

 birds in powers of execution, the nightingale 

 not excepted. The natural tones of the mock- 

 ing-bird are similar to those of large numbers 

 of the thrush tribe, and though numerous they 

 do not compare with the variety of its acquired 

 notes. The bird has well earned its name by 

 a remarkable display of mimetic talent, and 

 there are few birds of the American forest 

 that it can not imitate with some measure of 

 success. Its superiority in song depends, first, 

 on a remarkable compass of voice of about 

 three octaves; and, secondly, on prodigious 

 strength and flexibility of voice. It would be 

 a mistake to suppose that every mocking-bird 

 adopts with readiness the song of other birds. 

 The foreign notes are partly inherited, and the 

 richness of song is thus a gradual acquisition, 

 and the portion of the common store of notes 

 immediately pilfered from other birds is rela- 

 tively small. In captivity the mocking-bird 

 does not often avail himself of the opportunity 

 to acquire the song of other birds, and it is 

 only an occasional specimen that shows special 

 cleverness in this way, and most of them sing 



the paternal lay the last year of their lives 

 just as they sang it the first year. 



If the mocking-bird had not glaring defects 

 as well as great merits, he might well chal- 

 lenge the right of philomel to the title of king. 

 The mocking-bird is unsurpassed in compass of 

 voice, in richness of tone, and in facility of exe- 

 cution ; but he offends all ideas of musical se- 

 quence in his reckless medley, and interrupts 

 his flow of melody by the moi't startling ca- 

 cophony. An attentive listener, if familiar with 

 the notes of American songsters, will readily 

 distinguish the bird's original strains from its 

 imitations, for the latter retain the mocking- 

 bird timbre, however faithfully they may render 

 the borrowed rhythm and inflection of tones. 

 The mocking-bird, as a rule, intersperses the 

 imitations throughout its song; but occasion- 

 ally it seems to delight in unburdening itself of 

 its stolen stores all at once, and then may be 

 heard in direct and quick succession some of 

 the notes of the robin, cat-bird, blue-jay, ori- 

 ole, Virginia cardinal, quail, and brown thrash- 

 er, and this amusing medley may finally termi- 

 nate with the discordant shriek of the night- 

 hawk. Harsh tones are retained and repeated 

 with the same apparent pleasure as musical 

 ones, and the barn-yard fowl is as likely to be 

 an object of imitation as the most melodious 

 songster. At night in his native bowers, when 

 no longer diverted by many sounds, and when 

 the moon sheds an even, silver light, the mock- 

 ing-bird discourses his own sweet music in 

 rapturous lays. In general, however, the song 

 abounds in strong contrasts, and he pours forth 

 a volley of tones that are high and low, long 

 and short, smooth and rough, soft and loud, 

 and grave and gay by turns; and with every 

 shake of his musical throat he surprises the 

 ear with some new combination. The per- 

 formances, like those of the nightingale, are 

 extemporized under the inspiration of the 

 moment, and they change with the occasion. 

 Different birds vary greatly in their attain- 

 ments. There are very indifferent singers, and 

 there are others that have more than forty dis- 

 tinct notes, including both natural and acquired, 

 and these notes are blended and interwoven in 

 an endless number of ways in song. It is ex- 

 tremely difficult to separate the song of the 

 mocking-bird into its component parts and de- 

 scribe them in words. The following analysis 

 Las reference more especially to the native 

 song which is common to the whole species : 

 The voice, as already said, comprises about 

 three octaves, and over this entire range the 

 facility of performance seems to be equally 

 great Both the major and minor keys can be 

 detected, but more especially the latter, and 

 occasionally a musical interval is struck even 

 in the wild song. Distinct musical intervals 

 are rare among birds, and the cuckoo affords a 

 good instance of notes pitched on an interval. 

 The following are the chief strains : 



1. The scale is always a rapid rising or fall- 

 ing series of tones of equal length which mny 



