Dec. 31, 1885] 



NA TURE 



cantans), the most remarkable songster by far of the 

 Amazonian forest. When its singular notes strike the 

 ear for the first time the impression cannot be resisted 

 that they are produced by a human voice. Some musical 

 boy nmst be gathering fruits in the thickets, and is sing- 

 ing a few notes to cheer himself The tones become more 

 fluty and plaintive ; they are now those of a flageolet, and, 

 notwithstanding the utter impossibility of the thing, one 

 is for the moment convinced that someone is playing that 

 instrument. ... It is the only songster which makes an 

 impression on the natives, who sometimes rest their 

 paddles whilst travelling in their small canoes, along the 

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



Outsideofthesepre-eminently tuneful groups— thrushes, 

 warblers, finches, &c.— there are many species belonging 

 to groups considered songless which nevertheless do sing, 

 or have, at any rate, some highly musical noles. Den- 

 drocolaptine birds are not, strictly speaking, songsters; 

 but they are loquacious, and fill the woods with sound, 

 often p'leasant and laughter-like in character; and in 

 many species the male and female combine their voices 

 in a pretty kind of chorus. In the well-known oven-bird 

 this is very striking, the male and female singing a ringing 

 joyous duet in difterent tones, producing an harmonious 

 effect. D'Orbigny notices this harmonious singing of the 

 Fitrnaritis. The hirundines in mmy cases have voices 

 utterly unlike those of Europe, which as a rule only emit 

 a squeaking twitter. They have, on the contrary, rather 

 thick tones, in many cases resembling the throat-notes of 

 the skylark, and some have a very pleasing set song. 

 The human-like tones of some of the pigeons, the plaintive 

 fluting of the Tinamous, even the notes of some king- 

 fishers and cuckoos, contribute not a little to the bird- 

 music of South America. Waterton's words about the 

 " songless " bell-bird are well known, and, allowing that 

 he goes too far when he says that Orpheus himself would 

 drop his lyre to listen to this romantic sound, it is still cer- 

 tain that there are hundreds of species, which, like the 

 bell-bird of the Orinoco forests, utter a few delightful 

 notes, or produce a pleasing eftect by joining their voices 

 in a chorus. Thus, Mr. Bates speaks of the Monasa 

 nigrofrons — a barbet : — " This flock of Tamburi-para 

 were the reverse of dull : they were gamboling and 

 chasing each other amongst the branches. As they 

 sported about they emitted a few short tuneful notes, 

 which altogether produced a ringing musical chorus that 

 greatly surprised me." 



But even leaving out all these irregular melodists ; also 

 omitting the tanagers, the tyrants, and their nearest allies ; 

 the Dendrocolaptida^and Formicarida5,and the humming- 

 birds — these few families I have mentioned comprising 

 about iSoo species — there would still be a far greater 

 number of regular songsters than Europe can show, so 

 great is the bird-wealth of South America ; and concern- 

 ing the merits of their music I can only say that Azara 

 and D'Orbigny did not hear the best singer — the Miinns 

 triiinis. It would have been strange indeed if in that 

 portion of the globe, so inconceivably rich in species, and 

 where bird-life has had its greatest development, the 

 faculty of melody had not been as highly perfected as in 

 other regions. 



A very long time has passed since Azara made that 

 remark about a choir of song-birds selected in Paraguay, 

 and our knowledge on this subject — possibly because it 

 has been thought unimportant — has scarcely been added 

 to since his day ; but it seems to me that when 

 the best singers of two regions have been compared, 

 and a verdict arrived at, something more remains to be 

 said. The species which " formally take their stand for 

 the purpose of singing " sometimes delight us less than 

 others which have no set song, but yet utter notes of 

 exquisite purity. Nor is this all. To most minds the 

 dulcet strains of a few favoured songsters contribute only 

 a part, and not always the largest part, of the pleasurable 



sensations received from the bird-voices of any district. 

 All natural sounds produce, in some measure, agreeable 

 sensations : the pattering of rain on the leaves, the lowing 

 of cattle, the dash of waves on the beach, the " springs 

 and dying gales " of a breeze in the pines ; and so, 

 coming to birds, the clear piercing tones of the sand- 

 piper, the cry, etherealised by distance, of a passing 

 migrant, the cawing of rooks on the tree-tops, afford as 

 much pleasure as the whistle of the blackbird. There is 

 a charm in the infinite variety of bird-language heard in 

 a sub-tropical forest, where birds are most abundant, 

 e.Kceeding that of many monotonously melodious voices ; 

 the listener would not willingly lose any of the many in- 

 describable sounds emitted by the smaller species, or the 

 screams and human-like calls, or solemn, deep booming 

 or drumming of the larger kinds, or even the piercing 

 shrieks which may be heard miles away. The bird-lan- 

 guage of an English wood or orchard, made up in most 

 part of melodious tones, may be compared to a band 

 composed entirely of small wind-instruments with a 

 very limited range of sound, and which produces no 

 storms of noise, eccentric flights, or violent contrasts, or 

 anything to startle the listener — a sweet but somewhat 

 tame performance. The sub-tropical forest is more like 

 an orchestra in which a countless number of varied in- 

 struments take part in a performance in which there are 

 many noisy discords, while the tender, spiritual tones 

 heard at intervals seem, by contrast, infinitely sweet and 

 precious. 



W. H. Hudson 



T^ 



FOREST R Y 

 HE report of the proceedings of the Select Committee 

 on Forestry which sat during the past summer does 

 not, perhaps, throw any more light on the condition of 

 forestry in this country than was possessed before the 

 appointment of the Committee, for the substance of the 

 evidence given is for the most part to be found in the 

 various works and reports on forestry that have appeared 

 from time to time during the past few years ; neverthe- 

 less the evidence of such men so well versed in forest 

 conservancy, especially with regard to India, as Dr. 

 Cleghorn, Col. Michael, Col. Pearson, and Mr. W. G. 

 Pedder is of much value, as it brings together in a 

 collected form information that has hitherto been much 

 scattered. 



The subject of forest produce is one that is but little 

 understood or even thought of by people in general. It 

 is supposed by most people to relate only to the supply of 

 timber, which indeed of itself is of very great importance ; 

 but when we consider the other products— such as gums, 

 1 resins, oils, fibres, and such like— the enormous money 

 value becomes more apparent, as well as the great im- 

 portance of the forests as sources of many absolute 

 neceisities of life. The evidence of Col. Michael fully 

 illustrates this and is especially valuable from this point 

 ot view. Taking the subject of Indian -timbers alone, the 

 value of teak was fully set forth when it was shown to be 

 unequalled for the backing of ironclads and for ship- 

 building generally, as oft'ering the greatest resistance of 

 any known woods. Questioned as to whether teak was 

 capable of being brought into this country as a com- 

 mercial article at a remunerative profit, Col. Michael 

 replied that, judging from the price realised for some logs 

 sold at the Forestry Exhibition at Edinburgh and from 

 other information obtained, no doubt existed that the trade 

 in teak might become a very remunerative one. It was 

 shown further that in 1883 647,000/. worth of teak was 

 imported into England ; but Col. Michael also touched 

 upon what, if put upon a proper footing, might equally, or 

 perhaps more so, become a source of revenue to India 

 and a boon to this country — namely, the introduction of 

 the more ornamental woods for cabinet purposes. There 

 is, of course, always a steady demand for British-grown 



