THE SONGS OF BIRDS 



ONE of the most remarkable things in animal 

 life to me is the singing of the birds. Perhaps 

 the fiddling of the insects is equally remarkable, but 

 it falls into the same category of remarkable bio- 

 logical facts, and doubtless its genesis is the same. 

 How shall we interpret the singing of birds? Does 

 it bear any analogy to human singing? Is it directed 

 to any particular end? Is it expressive of joy, as it 

 would seem to be? Is it to please and win the female? 

 It is most assuredly what the biologists call a sec- 

 ondary sexual characteristic, as it belongs to the 

 breeding-season, and is associated with the bright 

 plumage of the males that comes at this time. But 

 I am persuaded that the females give little or no 

 heed to it. Only so far as it helps make up the sum 

 of other plus qualities which are characteristic of the 

 males, such as ornate appendages, bright colors, and 

 general pugnacity, does it count with the females. 

 The female among the birds is not so much won, 

 in the human sense, as she is conquered or dom- 

 inated. She resents courtship, and often meets 

 would-be caresses with blows. What finally deter- 

 mines her choice of any particular male would be 

 hard to decide, though it seems to be the vigor of his 



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