244 BOMBAY DUCKS 



Since the coppersmith's note is not confined to the 

 breeding season, it is presumably not a love song de- 

 signed to attract the attention of the opposite sex. 

 Further, every bird seems to be able to emit but one 

 note, and, as it will pour this forth by the hour at times 

 when apparently there is not another member of the 

 species within earshot, the note cannot be conversa- 

 tional. 



I believe that the song of most birds is simply an 

 ebullition of surplus energy, an expression of perfect 

 health, an outward and audible token of pure and un- 

 alloyed happiness. I do not mean to say that birds 

 cannot communicate vocally with one another, for they 

 can and do. Their calls are, however, sharp, short notes, 

 easily distinguishable from their songs. 



Just as a man, when he is in good health and spirits, 

 will sing while having his bath, so do the little copper- 

 smiths pour forth their notes. In the former case, the 

 pleasing contact of the water braces the nerves and 

 forms the immediate stimulus ; in the latter, it is sun- 

 shine that sets the birds' vocal cords in motion. 



Coppersmiths love not the cold ; consequently they 

 do not ascend the hills. In Northern India, during the 

 cold weather, their voice is completely hushed ; but as 

 soon as the warmer days come, the birds strike up ; 

 and, the hotter the weather, the more vociferous they 

 grow. Thus the coppersmith bird might be called 

 nature's thermometer. It will not, as a rule, sing if 

 the temperature falls below 70, while the warmer the 

 weather, the louder is its note. In Madras the ther- 

 mometer is rarely in the sixties ; hence all day and 



