INTRODUCTION. 



for, in such form the song is in a state of scientific preserva- 

 tion, which is more than may be said of a lack of musical 

 knowledge! The time has already come when most of the 

 advanced school children of Boston and New York can tell 

 us exactly the difference between the chromatic and dia- 

 tonic scales. A piano and a Canary may not be unmixed 

 blessings in the house, but no one has yet ventured to sug- 

 gest the home is blessed which boasts nor bird nor music! 



The correction of errors in text and music which must 

 inevitably enter a book of this kind in spite of the greatest 

 vigilance cannot always be successfully accomplished by 

 one pair of eyes. In this connection I am greatly indebted 

 to Mr. Henry L. Mason of Boston for his valuable sugges- 

 tions and kindly interest in the work. It should also be 

 borne in mind that for one who has always lived both in 

 town and country in an atmosphere of music, the many 

 allusions to musical parallelism within these pages are be- 

 lieved to be as interesting and useful to others as to himself; 

 and again, with respect to musical pitch, a vitally import- 

 ant point in the transcription of bird-music, it should be 

 explained that a musical mind is adept in carrying the key 

 of C without assistance of instrument or pitch pipe. If 

 it were not so the significant Twice or Thrice 8va. which 

 appears over my notations would not be so constantly em- 

 ployed. In certain cases for example, the Warblers and 

 the Cuckoos musical pitch is an indubitable indication of 

 the species! 



It should not be necessary for me to add that the piano 

 arrangements here are meant solely to demonstrate the 

 musical content of the bird's song. Bird-notes can scarcely 

 be recognized with the assistance of the piano. If one 

 desires a tonal imitation of the song it must be whistled in 

 accordance with its notation and in exact pitch, no other 

 way will answer. 



F. SCHUYLER MATHEWS. 

 Cambridge, Mass., February, 1921. 



vm 



