THE SONG OF BIRDS 149 



reiteration, whose significance is emotional, not informative. 

 It is idle, indeed, to pretend that hard and fast definitions 

 can be given that is a pre-Darwinian demand for there 

 are many approximations to song whose inclusion or ex- 

 clusion within the rubric must remain a matter of opinion. 

 The long-drawn-out, modulated pairing-call of many of the 

 waders, such as the redshank, is on the border-line, and 

 there are many who would call the reiterated call of the 

 cuckoo a stammering song of the simplest sort. 



Professor Alfred Newton writes in this connection : 

 " It is necessary in a scientific spirit to regard every sound 

 made by a bird under the all-powerful influence of love or 

 lust as a ' Song.' It seems impossible to draw any but 

 an arbitrary line between the deep booming of the emeu, 

 the harsh cry of the guillemot (which, proceeding from 

 a thousand throats, strikes the distant ear in a confused 

 murmur like the roar of a tumultuous crowd), the plaintive 

 wail of the lapwing, the melodious whistle of the widgeon, 

 ' the cock's shrill clarion/ the cuckoo's ' wandering voice/ 

 the scream of the eagle, the hoot of the owl, the solemn chime 

 of the bellbird, the whip-cracking of the manakin, the 

 chaffinch's joyous burst, or the hoarse croak of the raven, 

 on the one hand, and the bleating of the snipe or the drum- 

 ming of the ruffed grouse, on the other. Innumerable 

 are the forms which such utterances take." It seems to 

 us, however, that, while there are no hard and fast lines, it 

 is possible and useful to distinguish between a simple love- 

 call and a modulated, reiterated " song." That none of 

 them are " songs " in the strict musical sense is admitted 

 on all hands. 



The true singing-birds belong to the huge order of 

 Perchers or Passerines, which includes over six thousand 

 species, and has a practically world-wide representation. 

 But it is especially in the North Temperate region that song 



