46 WHIMSICAL WHITE-THROATS 



reason why he may not have sung a dozen. I 

 am obliged to confess that although it is 

 delightful to hear one of these sparrows, or 

 two together, a chorus of a dozen or more 

 must be considered a failure, as music. Each 

 bird has a decided musical pitch of his own, 

 and unless the several singers happen to har- 

 monize they produce an unpleasant discord. 



One study my neighboring white-throat 

 gave me, which interested me very much, - a 

 young bird at his music-lessons. I heard him 

 as I sat on the piazza resting, for he was 

 very near. He began by attempting one note 

 alone, or sometimes two, and his trouble was 

 to get the pitch. After his feeble efforts, the 

 full, clear notes of the elder would ring out 

 as if to afford a copy. Then the youngster 

 tried again, and so they would go on for 

 some time. I knew it was two birds and not 

 one alone, because the notes would some- 

 times clash. He practiced faithfully till he 

 mastered the first three notes at proper 

 intervals, but the pitch seemed to be his 

 despair, and I never heard him attempt the 

 triplets. 



After the disappointing solution to the 



