THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 275 



that of the English mouse. This little animal was kept 

 in confinement, and the performance was repeatedly 

 heard. In one of the two chief songs ^ the last bar would 

 frequently be prolonged to two or three, and she would 

 sometimes change from C sharp and D to C natural and 

 D, then warble on these two notes a while and wind up 

 with a quick chirp on C sharp and D. The distinction 

 between the semitones was very marked and easily ap- 

 preciable to a good ear.' '' * 



Coming again to birds we first note their charac- 

 teristic song. Brehm and Lenz tell us of finches: 

 " Their song is called a strophe because it consists of one 

 or two rhythmic measures, given with great persistence 

 and sometimes with rapidity. To this the finch owes 

 its popularity among fanciers, who distinguish a great 

 number of such strophes and give them each a name 

 until their study has become quite a science, involved in 

 much mystery to the uninitiated; for while there is 

 little difference between them to the unpractised ear, 

 these people distinguish twenty or more distinct strophes. 

 According to Lenz, one kind of snipe has nineteen 

 strophes when he is free. The syllables of a good double 

 strophe are as follows: Zizozozizizizizizizizirreuzipiah 

 tototototototozissskutziah. The nightingale's song con- 

 tains from twenty to twenty-four distinct strophes, and 

 according to Xaumann's fine description, " is character- 

 ized by a fulness of tone, a harmony and variety that are 

 found in the song of no other bird, so that she is rightly 

 called the queen of songsters. With indescribable deli- 

 cacy, soft flutelike notes alternate with trembling ones, 

 melting tones with those that are joyful, and melancholy 

 strains with ecstatic outbursts. If a soft note begins 



* Cf. Darwin, Descent of Man, ii, p. 263. 



