304 



HABITS OF BIRDS. 



to association, for they seldom sing but in fine wea- 

 ther and when pleased ; and, for the latter reason, 

 even the sostenuto purring of the cat is not unpleas- 

 ing. The variety and rapidity of their notes and 

 intonation also awaken attention, and the contrast 

 in their song between rapid flights of double-demi- 

 semi-quavers and lengthened and sweet minims, is 

 often wonderful ; as in the case of the soft and sus- 

 tained notes of the nightingale, succeeded by a short 

 and expressive passage of quicker sound. It is, no 

 doubt, too much to say that we have borrowed all 

 our music from birds, but some of it may, without 

 much stretch of fancy, be considered as having been 

 stolen from that source; for example, the follow- 

 ing*: 



Flageolet. 



m 





New Monthly Mag, April, 1823. 



