190 ADVENTURES AMONG BIRDS 



like one in a trance, or like the monk in the legend, 

 only my wonderful bird was black instead of white. 

 By-and-by he flew away and that was the last of him, 

 for on other days I searched and listened for him in 

 vain. Perhaps on the very morning after that evening 

 he fell to the gun of some person anxious about the 

 safety of his reddening strawberries — some farmer or 

 cottager who did not know that he was killing an angel. 

 However, a worse fate would have befallen him if one 

 of those who prefer to have their birds in cages had 

 chanced to hear his wonderful song and had proceeded 

 to capture him for exhibition about the country, 

 winning great glory from the " fancy " and perhaps 

 making a thousand pounds out of his prisoner for life. 



This character of the blackbird's music, which I 

 have been discussing — its resemblance to human-made 

 music — is not the whole nor the principal cause of its 

 charm. The charm is chiefly due to the intrinsic 

 beauty of the sound ; it is a fluty sound and has that 

 quality of the flute suggestive of the human voice, the 

 voice in the case of the blackbird of an exquisitely pure 

 and beautiful contralto. The effect is greatly increased 

 by the manner in which the notes are emitted — 

 trolled out leisurely, as if by a being at peace and 

 supremely happy, and able to give the feeling its most 

 perfect expression. 



It is this delicious song of the blackbird — a voice 

 of the loveliest quality, with an expression derived from 

 its resemblance to a melodious, brightened human 

 voice, uttered in a leisurely and careless manner, as of 



