FAMILY FrlngilHdx. 





The character of the trills, or chirps, too, needs some 

 explanation. In the first place, such notes can not be 

 properly called trills. I only employ that term in the 

 popular sense of its meaning rapidly repeated notes. 

 They are slurred tones covering intervals of indetermin- 

 ate length rendered in a shrill register beyond the limit 

 of the piano keyboard, and, so far as the ear is able to 

 detect, a whole octave higher than the sustained tones 

 which form the first half of the song. On my diagram 

 of bird songs (in the key), it will be seen that this Vesper 

 Sparrow has a break in his voice equal to something like 

 a full octave. It is no wonder, therefore, that ornithol- 

 ogists experience great difficulty in an attempt to de- 

 scribe such a song as that. But it is far from unusual 

 among the Finch Family. I call to mind a Canary, a 

 splendidly trained singer, who could render an operatic 

 melody in clear whistled tones, moderately high, and at 

 its finish strike at once into his natural wild song, which 

 must have been considerably over an octave higher. 

 That bird was owned by a barber whose shop was near 

 Union Square, New York, and its value was some fabu- 

 lously high figure which I do not remember. 



The Vesper Sparrow sings with both style and feeling, 

 notwithstanding the defect in his vocal register. He 

 always begins pianissimo, swells in a fine crescendo and 

 diminishes as he descends to a tone very near the tonic : 



'Thts motive is identical 

 with that of 

 Chopin's 3rd. 

 Scherzo; 



88 



