BIRD MUSIC IN SOUTH AMERICA 149 



lands." And Bates says of the Amazonian for- 

 ests, "The few sounds of birds are of that pen- 

 sive and mysterious character which intensifies 

 the feeling of solitude rather than imparts a sense 

 of life and cheerfulness." 



It is not only this paucity of bird life in large 

 tracts of country which has made the tropics seem 

 to the European imagination a region " where 

 birds forget to sing, ' ' and has caused many trav- 

 elers and naturalists to express so poor an opinion 

 of South American bird music. There remains in 

 most minds something of that ancient notion that 

 brilliant-plumaged birds emit only harsh disagree- 

 able sounds the macaw and the peacock are ex- 

 amples; while the sober-colored birds of temper- 

 ate regions, especially of Europe, have the gift of 

 melody; that sweet notes are heard in England, 

 and piercing cries and grating screams within the 

 tropics. As a fact the dull-plumaged species in 

 the hot regions greatly outnumber those that are 

 gaily-colored. To mention only two South Ameri- 

 can passerine families, the woodhewers and ant- 

 birds, numbering together nearly five hundred 

 species, or as many as all the species of birds in 

 Europe, are with scarcely an exception sober- 

 colored. The melodious goldfinch, yellow bunt- 

 ing, linnet, blue tit, chaffinch, and yellow wagtail, 

 would look very gay and conspicuous among them. 

 Yet these sober-colored tropical birds I have men- 

 tioned are not singers. 



It must also be borne in mind that South Amer- 



