vi On the Songs of Birds 137 



charm has been substituted in the form of highly- 

 finished vocal power. 



It is to be noticed that this theory was primarily 

 meant to account for the origin of song in birds, 

 rather than its present meaning and use. I doubt 

 whether Darwin himself would have maintained that 

 all birds' songs are love-songs, or, as some less cautious 

 writers will have it, that they are inspired only by 

 feelings of rivalry and hatred towards other per- 

 formers. It is, indeed, almost impossible for any one 

 who lives all the year round among birds to accept 

 the theory as an adequate explanation of song as it 

 is now used by many species ; and I should doubt 

 whether it supplies us even with a sufficient reason 

 for the primeval origin of song. With all my rever- 

 ence for the great naturalist, I can hardly persuade 

 myself that his view is here entirely in keeping with 

 the general tenor of animal life, of which the force 

 and spontaneity and enjoyment are surely not all 

 derived from one set of emotions. In any case the 

 field -naturalist must find himself continually con- 

 fronted with facts which will raise questions in his 

 mind about the theory of sexual selection, even if he 

 should be unacquainted with the criticism to which 

 it has already been subjected by eminent men of 

 science. 



While writing these pages in the country I have 

 many a time gone out for a stroll and heard the 



