SONGS. 271 



birds, by no means proves it is not occasioned by a 

 stimulus to love; indeed, it is likely the redundancy 

 of animal matter, from plenty of food and artificial 

 heat, may produce it ; and this is sufficient for con- 

 tinuing their song longer than birds in their natural 

 wild state, because they have a constant stimulus ; 

 whereas wild birds have it abated by a commerce 

 with the other sex, by which, and other causes, it is 

 prevented. It is true wild birds are heard to sing 

 sometimes in the middle of winter, when the air 

 is mild, animated by the genial warmth of the sun, 

 which acts as a stimulus. But we shall now proceed 

 to show, by experiments, that birds in their natural 

 state may be forced to continue their song much 

 longer than usual. A male red-start made its ap- 

 pearance near my house early in the spring, and 

 soon commenced his love-tuned song. In two days 

 after, a female arrived, which for several days the 

 male was continually chasing, emitting soft inter- 

 rupted notes, accompanied by a chattering noise. 

 This sort of courting lasted for several days, soon 

 after which the female took possession of a hole in a 

 wall close to my house, where it prepared a nest and 

 deposited six eggs. The male kept at a distance 

 from the nest, and sometimes sang, but not so loud 

 or so frequently as at first, and never when he ap- 

 proached nearer his mate. When the eggs had been 

 sat on a few days, I endeavoured to catch the female 

 on the nest, but she escaped through my hand. 

 However, she soon returned, and I caught her. The 

 male did not immediately miss his mate; but on 

 the next day he renewed his vociferous calls, and 

 his song became incessant for a week, when I 

 discovered a second female ; his note immediately 

 changed, and all his actions as before returned. 

 This experiment has been repeated with the nightin- 

 gale with the same success; and a golden-crested 



