18 BIRD FRIENDS 



Described in words, this last means that first 

 come two long tones of equal length, then three 

 groups of triplets, each group being equal in length 

 to one of the long notes; and in each triplet the 

 middle note is the shortest, the first note being equal 

 to three of these and the last note equal to two of 

 them. 



Similarity of bird music to human music. There 

 is something of interest in the song itself as a musical 

 production divested of its harmony and surroundings. 

 Mr. Henry Oldys, who has made a special study of 

 bird songs for a number of years, finds some interest- 

 ing similarities between bird music and human mu- 

 sic. First, the resemblances in form of structure 

 are so close that it is possible to record many bird 

 songs on the same musical scales that are used for 

 human music. 



Mr. Oldys writes: 



One especially remarkable point of resemblance be- 

 tween bird and human music, however, cannot be too 

 strongly emphasized. I have found the wood pewee and 

 the wood thrush uttering songs, in some cases identical, 

 in others nearly so, in structural form with many of our 

 four-time ballads and hymns. This form is governed by 

 the following unwritten rule: the first and third lines are 

 identical; the second and fourth are identical in notes or 

 character, except that the second ends with a note that 

 leaves the musical sense suspended, and the fourth with 

 one that satisfies it, the keynote. The wood pewee song 

 follows this form strictly. 



