130 The Gala Days of Birds [FIRST WEEK 



feather is shed, the new plumage being of a dull green, 

 like that of its mate and its young. 



As mystery confronts us everywhere in nature, so we 

 confess ourselves baffled when we attempt to explain the 

 most wonderful of all the attributes of bird courtship 

 song. Birds have notes to call to one another, to warn of 

 danger, to express anger and fear; but the highest develop- 

 ment of their vocal efforts seems to be devoted to charming 

 the females. If birds have a love of music, then there 

 must be a marvellous diversity of taste among them, 

 ranging all the way from the shrieking, strident screams 

 of the parrots and macaws to the tender pathos of the 

 wood pewee and the hermit thrush. 



If birds have not some appreciation of sweet sounds, 

 then we must consider the many different songs as mere 

 by-products, excess of vitality which expresses itself in 

 results, in many cases, strangely aesthetic and harmonious. 

 A view midway is indefinable as regards the boundaries 

 covered by each theory. How much of the peacock's 

 train or of the thrush's song is appreciated by the female? 

 How much is by-product merely? 



In these directions a great field lies open to the student 

 and lover of birds; but however we decide for ourselves in 

 regard to the exact meaning and evolution of song, and 

 what use it subserves among the birds, we all admit the 

 effect and pleasure it produces in ourselves. A world 

 without the song of birds is greatly lacking such is a 

 desert, where even the harsh croak of a raven is melody. 



Perhaps the reason why the songs of birds give more 

 lasting pleasure than many other things is that sound is 



