The Audubon Societies 383 



ing from the village at ten or eleven o'clock at night, I heard the tread of a flock of 

 geese, or else ducks, on the dry leaves in the woods by a pond-hole behind my dwelling, 

 where they had come up to feed, and the faint honk or quack of their leader as they 

 hurried off . . . The snow had already covered the ground since the 25th of Novem- 

 ber, and surrounded me suddenly with the scenery of winter. I withdrew yet farther 

 into my shell, and endeavored to keep a bright fire both within my house and within 

 my breast." 



[It is suggested that the entire chapter be read and the observations therein tabu- 

 lated.— A. H. W.l 



JUNIOR AUDUBON WORK 



For Teachers and Pupils 



Exercise XXX: Correlated with Music 



BIRD-MUSIC 



As I sit by the open fire, looking out on the oak trees which hold their 

 green, glossy leaves so late into the fall, and to the west, on a vacant lot that is 

 gorgeous with 'fire-grass' long after the brilliant sumac has faded and the 

 goldenrod withered, almost indeed, until snow flies, I am suddenly aware that 

 there is a great silence in Nature. The soUtary Robin feeding on the lawn 

 does not break forth into song, the Myrtle Warbler flits about the brittle shrub- 

 bery with an occasional and scarcely audible chip, — ^if it were not for the 

 harshly musical call of the Blue Jay or the clear-cut note of a chance Wood- 

 pecker, the crystal autumn air would vibrate to few sounds beyond the flut- 

 tering, falling leaves. Birds fly by in flocks, but silently. It is their music 

 that I miss. With what eagerness I waited day after day last spring for the 

 coming of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, haunted by the memory of its rich, 

 sweet song! And now, another winter is ahead with seldom a bird-note to be 

 heard, although my feathered mates do not entirely desert me. While it is so 

 still and white without, what better time could there be to begin a study of 

 bird-music? 



It is rather a strange circumstance that many people who know a \ariet\' 

 of land- and water-birds by sight, have little or no acquaintance with their 

 voices. Something undoubtedly is out of focus in their training, for why should 

 one deprive the ear in order to satisfy the eye? To be able to recognize a bird 

 by note is a rare pleasure, besides being a fine accomplishment and one which 

 leads into the subtler enjoyments of Nature. Let us take time now, when so 

 profound a stillness prevails, to prepare for the great festival of spring. 



An important fact to learn about bird-music is that it is not made up of 

 irregular, indefinite sounds, but that it has pitch, rhythm, and tone-color 

 and is capable of notation. This at once simplifies our task, for we are not con- 

 fronted by an interminable sequence of unusual sounds, unrelated to our own 

 system of music. Careful observation leads one to discover phrases and even 



