Bird Music in South America. 161 



travelling in their small canoes, along the shady 

 by-paths, as if struck by the mysterious sound." 

 The sound must be wonderful indeed to produce 

 such an effect ! 



To finish with quotations, the following sensible 

 passage from Wallace's Amazon and Rio Negro 

 should help us greatly in getting rid of an ancient 

 error : " We are inclined to think that the general 

 statement, that the birds of the tropics have a 

 deficiency of song proportionate to their brilliancy 

 of plumage, requires to be modified. Many of the 

 brilliant birds of the tropics belong to families or 

 groups which have no song ; but our most brilliantly- 

 coloured birds, as the goldfinch and canary, are 

 not less musical, and there are many beautiful little 

 birds here which are equally so. We heard notes 

 resembling those of the blackbird and robin, and 

 one bird gave forth three or four sweet plaintive 

 notes that particularly attracted our attention ; 

 while many have peculiar cries, in which words may 

 be traced by the fanciful, and which in the stillness 

 of the forest have a very pleasing effect." 



To return, before concluding, to Azara's remark 

 about a choir of birds selected in Paraguay. It 

 seems to me that when the best singers of any two 

 districts have been compared and a verdict arrived 

 at, something more remains to be said. The 

 dulcet strains of a few of the most highly-esteemed 

 songsters contribute only a part, by no means the 

 largest part, of the pleasure we receive from the 

 bird sounds of any district. All natural sounds 



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