1 68 Bird Comrades 



remembered them, for at first they only " cheeped" after 

 the manner of most bantlings, and only a good while 

 afterward did they fall to using the adult chirp. Besides, 

 while still in the nest, they must have heard many other 

 bird calls; why did they not acquire them? .Heredity has 

 laid a strong hand upon birds, and has drawn sharp divid- 

 ing lines among the various species. 



Instinct also plays a large part in moving the bird to 

 sing and to render the peculiar arias of its kind. For 

 instance, a pet wood thrush of mine, secured at an early 

 age and kept far away from all his kith of the wildwood, 

 became a fine musician. And what do you suppose was 

 the tune he executed? It was the sweet, dreamy, some- 

 what labored song of the wood thrush in his native wilds. 

 He never sang any other tune. I think he sang it better 

 than any wild thrush I have ever heard. It was louder, 

 clearer, more full-toned, but the quality of voice and the 

 technique were precisely the same. Who was his teacher ? 

 No one but Nature, heredity, instinct, whatever you choose 

 to call it. There was no wild thrush within a half mile of 

 his cage. 



The case of a pet thrasher was almost as striking. It 

 is true, he may have heard several of his kin singing about 

 the premises during the first spring of his captivity, but 

 it is not probable that he learned their melodies so early 

 in life. As the next spring approached, he began to sing 

 the very medleys that the wild thrashers sing with so 

 much earnestness and skill, and this was long before any 

 thrashers had come back from the South. 



