140 WOOD NOTES WILD. 



WHY BIRDS SING. Contin. 



the bird's inspiration, and no person who has heard the mocking-bird's 

 dreamy night-lay can doubt that it is a fine expression of the nocturnal 

 influence. 



" Indeed, all our birds use what we call their voices, just as we use 

 ours, for the purposes of expression generally ; and I am convinced that 

 bird-song proper, though oftenest the expression of some phase of the 

 tender passion, is not confined to such expression. ... I have watched 

 birds at their singing under many and widely differing circumstances, 

 and I am sure that they express joyous anticipation, present content, 

 and pleasant recollection, each as the mood moves, and all with equal 

 ease." Thompson, M. : Sylvan Secrets, pp. 74, 75, 78. 



See Spencer, H. : Origin and Function of Music. (Eraser's Mag., 

 vol. Ivi., 1857, p, 396.) (A postscript to this essay is to be found in Pop. 

 Sci. Mo., vol. xxxviii., November, 1890.) 



"The act of singing is evidently a pleasurable one; and it probably 

 serves as an outlet for superabundant nervous energy and excitement, 

 just as dancing, singing, and field sports do with us." Wallace, A. R. : 

 Darwinism (London, 1889), p. 284. 



For criticism of Darwin's theory of the origin of bird-song, see Mivart, 

 St. G. : Lessons from Nature, etc. (London, 1876), pp. 312-313. 



Organs of Song. 



On this point we are still where Father Kircher left off 

 in 1650. If song depended on the larynx, he says, the 

 hog would sing beautifully ; adding, " quod ridiculum ne 

 dicam stolidum esset afferere " (Musurgia, bk. i, chap. xiv.). 



See Agassiz and Gould: Principles of Zoology, pt. 1 (Boston, 1866), 

 pp. 65-66. Axon, W. E. A.: Voice of Animals. (Brit. Alma., 1885, 

 pp. 104-114.) Encyclo. Brit., vol. iii. Article "Birds," respiratory and 

 vocal organs. Blanchard, fe : Voice in Man and in Animals. Tr. by 

 J. Fitzgerald. (Pop. Sci. Mo., vol. ix., August and September, 1876, pp. 

 385-398, 513-523.) Buckland, F. : Natural Trumpet of the Crane. 

 (Pop. Sci. Mo., vol. ix., 1876, pp. 137-140. From " Land and Water.") 

 Herissant, in Memoirs of the Roy. Acad. at Paris, quoted in Gents. Mag., 

 vol. xxix., 1759, pp. 119-120. Macgillivray, W. : Hist, of Brit. Birds, 

 vol. ii. p. 34. Miiller, J. : Researches on the comparative anatomy of 

 the vocal organs of birds. (Berlin Akad. Abhand., 1 845. ) Yarrell, W. : 

 Hist, of Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 71. 



