INTRODUCTION. IX 



small whistle.* The musical expression thus ob- 

 tained I have introduced into the text, but the 

 reader must not attempt to interpret these notes 

 by the piano ; for by this means he will not obtain 

 the faintest notion of the sounds which they are 

 intended to convey. The reason of this will be 

 obvious ; the pipe of a bird is a wind instrument, 

 the piano is a stringed one. A flute or flageolet 

 will give the proper sound, but the most perfect 

 expression will be obtained with a small whistle, 

 two and a half inches long, and having three perfo- 

 rations, similar to the whistle used by the Sardinian 

 Picco who performed so wonderfully in London 

 some years since. By reducing the length of the 

 tube by a stop or plug, the whistle may, by expe- 

 riment with the bird, be adjusted to the exact pitch, 

 and the stop be then fixed. 



I have found a whistle so constructed very useful 

 as a bird-call when I have been anxious to get a 

 shot at Plovers, Sandpipers, and other waders. 



* The high notes of the smaller birds are so much above 

 the reach of the ear that it is scarcely possible to take them 

 down. 



