90 



BIRDS, SONGS OF. 



BOLIVIA. 



thrill (i. e., the even alternation of two con- 

 tiguous notes) nor a treraulo. It is the rising 

 and falling sequence of fractional notes, which 

 are probably less than quarter-tones, and which 

 on this account, and also owing to their ex- 

 treme rapidity, impart a vague character to 

 this part of the song, so that the notes can not 

 be followed by the ear seriatim as in those 

 portions having tones of longer intervals. 



2. The cantabile notes are long - sustained 

 and delightfully inflected tones, which have a 

 true singing character. Few birds are capa- 

 ble of sounds of such a song -like nature. 

 These notes are so rich that they impart to the 

 song, which without them, would occupy a 

 secondary rank, a musical value much like that 

 accorded to the performances of the nightin- 

 gale and mocking-bird. 



3. Finally, to sum up the musical gifts of 

 the skylark, it may be said that he has the 

 sprightliness of song of the goldfinch, the merry 

 jingle of notes of the bobolink, a genius for 

 combination of tones possessed by none but 

 master-songsters, and a song-like timbre of 

 voice that is unique. 



The accompanying illustrations of the vocal 

 apparatus of singing-birds are from dissections 

 made by the writer, and are of life-size. Fig. 

 1 represents the vocal organs of the Vir- 

 ginia nightingale, as it is popularly called, 



FIG. i. 



FIG. 2. 



1, Lower mandible ; 2, tongue 5 



3, rima glottidis ; 4, 01 hy- 



oides ; 5, trachea ; 6, syrinx ; 

 7, bronchia;. 



though it is known to the naturalist as Car- 

 dinal^ Virginianm. It is a very handsome 

 bird, about the size of the robin, with scarlet 

 plumage and crest and a red beak, and it has 

 a fine, mellow voice. The figure gives a pos- 

 terior view, with all the surrounding parts re- 



moved except the lower part of the bill with 

 the tongue and its attachments. The bronchi 

 open into the lower larynx (syrinx) separately, 

 thus forming two glottides, and the vocal mem- 

 branes are elastic reduplications of the lining 

 bronchial membranes. There is a thin parti- 

 tion of the syrinx into equal halves by a sep- 

 tum which is cartilaginous in the cardinal 

 in the canary and in the linnet, although in 

 larger birds it is bony and forms the cross- 

 bone (pessulus). Extending from this pessu- 

 lus downward on the inner side of each bron- 

 chus in larger birds is a distinct membrane 

 (rnembrana tympaniformis interna) which, 

 through tension and relaxation, serves to mod- 

 ify the vocal sounds. This membrane is mere- 

 ly rudimentary in the figures here given, and 

 the bronchial rings are not completed by mem- 

 brane as in some other instances. The trachea 

 in the birds here described is composed of 

 about fifty rings complete and very elastic, and 

 both the trachea and bronchi are capable of 

 considerable increase in length by muscular 

 effort on the part of the bird. There are no 

 vocal cords in the upper larynx, which has an 

 opening (rima glottidis) controlled by a pair of 

 muscles. 



Fig. 2 presents a similar life-sized view of 

 the vocal organs of the canary-bird. The 

 cross-bone in the syrinx in young birds at 

 least appears to be little more than a carti- 

 laginous septum, and the tracheal rings are still 

 distinct and about fifty in number, and the 

 bronchial rings, likewise, are apparently com- 

 plete, and there is no visible tympaniforrn 

 membrane. In other respects the parts are 

 the same as in Fig. 1, and the numbers corre- 

 spond in both figures. 



BOLIVIA, an independent republic of South 

 America, area 772,648 square miles. The ag- 

 gregate population numbers about 2,250,000, 

 and is composed largely of the Quichua and 

 Aymarii. Indians, the former being direct de- 

 scendants of the Incas. Their proportionate 

 division is, Quichuas, 50 per cent. ; Aymaras, 

 25 per cent.; cholos, a Spanish and Indian 

 mixture, 18 per cent.; and half-castes, 7 per 

 cent. This strange and interesting race lives 

 in villages called comunidades, under a gov- 

 ernor, or alcalde, who is one of their number. 

 They pay a tribute of from four to ten Boliv- 

 ian dollars a year, those of age who can read 

 and write being exempt from payment, and ad- 

 mitted to the ballot. 



Travel in Bolivia is comparatively safe, for 

 the Indians are not dangerous, and, though the 

 last trace of maliciousness toward the Spanish 

 race has not entirely disappeared, they are 

 grave and deferential to caballeros. 



Government. The President of the Eepublio 

 is Don Gregorio Pacheco. His Cabinet is com- 

 posed of the following ministers: Foreign Re- 

 lations, Dr. Jorge Oblitas; Justice, Public 

 Worship, and Instruction. Don Martin Lanza; 

 Finance, Sefior H. Gutierrez; Interior, Dr. 

 M. M. Dilledina ; War, Col. Severe Zapata. 



