SOUNDS THAT CARRY FARTHEST 241 



stands erect, a tall conspicuous object on the wide 

 level plain, his long neck inflated and the pinions 

 with their white plumes spread open. There had 

 been an ostrich hunt that day, and the sounds I 

 listened to probably came from two or three birds 

 calling from widely separated points. 



We note that in listening to the singing of birds 

 the high shrill notes invariably live longest in the 

 ears as the distance increases, while the lower gut- 

 tural and harsh sounds die successively out of the 

 performance. This is most noticeable in the sky- 

 lark's torrential song, owing to the great variety of 

 notes of different quality composing it. 



The macaws in flocks, uttering their tremendous 

 screams when flying high above the forest trees, 

 make a great noise, but it does not carry half the 

 distance of the bell-bird's metallic, clanging call. 



I remember that in my home on the pampas, when 

 I was a boy, we used to stand out of doors on those 

 exceptionally still, clear mornings when all distant 

 objects seemed near, and when all sounds appeared 

 to travel twice as far as at ordinary times. We 

 would listen with delight on such mornings, which 

 were usually in the winter, to the calls and cries of 

 the great water-fowl in three or four rush- and sedge- 

 grown lagoons situated at different points and at 

 various distances from our home, from something 

 over a mile to two miles and a half. From all of 

 them we could distinctly hear certain species: the 

 alarm cry and song-like performances of the crested 

 screamer; the short, rapidly reiterated call of the 

 Q 



