APPENDIX. 139 



Why Birds Sing. (See p. 5.) 



" The majority of ornithologists agree in ascribing an erotic character 

 to the songs of birds ; not only the melting melodies, but also those of 

 their tones that are discordant to the human ear, are regarded as love- 

 notes. Darwin finally, saving some reserves, came to accept this view. 

 To be able to speak critically of the love-song, one should pay especial 

 regard to the love-life of birds. It would be to throw water into the sea 

 to add to what ornithological writers have advanced concerning the 

 exceeding vital worth and cosmical significance of love. Nevertheless, I 

 venture the opinion that the origin of the song-habit is to be found in 

 other sources as well as in this important factor, among which is the joy 

 of life, manifested in an irresistible determination to announce itself in 

 melody ; and that the song is more perfectly brought out in proportion 

 as this feeling is more highly developed in the organization. Birds in 

 freedom begin to sing long before pairing, and continue it, subject to 

 interruptions, long afterward, though all passion has been extinguished ; 

 and domesticated birds sing through the whole year without regard to 

 breeding-time, though no female or companion ever be in sight. Such 

 birds, born in captivity, never feel the loss of freedom ; and if they are 

 well taken care of, are always hearty and in good spirits. The bird sings, 

 to a large extent, for his own pleasure ; for he frequently lets himself out 

 lustily when he knows he is all alone. In the springtime of love, when 

 all life is invigorated, and the effort to win a mate by ardent wooing is 

 crowned with the joy of triumph, the song reaches its highest perfection. 

 But the male bird also sings to entertain his mate during the arduous 

 nest-building and hatching, to cheer the young, and if he be a domesticated 

 bird, to give pleasure to his lord and the providence that takes care of him, 

 and in doing so to please himself. Lastly, the bird sings by habit, as 

 we call it because the tendency is innate in the organs of song 1 to 

 exercise themselves." Placzeck, Dr. B. Translated from Kosmos. (Pop. 

 Sci. Mo., vol. xxvi., p. 542.) 



" The matin-song of our American robin will convince any one who 

 observes closely that the witchery of the dewy, fragrant day-dawn is 



1 " The modifications of these organs presented by the different species 

 are slight; the parts in all I have examined being the same, and with 

 the same number of muscles. The peculiar song of different species must 

 therefore depend on circumstances beyond our cognition; for surely 

 no one could imagine the reason that the rook and the hooded crow re- 

 quire as complex an apparatus to produce their unmusical cries as that 

 which the blackbird and the nightingale employ in modulating their 

 voices, so as to give rise to those melodies which are so delightful to us ; 

 and yet the knife, and the needle, and the lens do not enable us to detect any 

 superior organization in the warbler over the crow." Macgillivray. 



