32a APPENDIX. V. 



ling calls ; i\\ejerki7ig of these call-birds, there^ 

 fore, face to face, is a most extraordinary in- 

 stance of contention for superiority in song. 



It may be also worthy of observation, that 

 the female of no species of birds ever sings: 

 with birds, it is the reverse of what occurs in 

 human kind : among the feathered tribe, all the 

 cares of life fall to the lot of the tender sex : 

 theirs is the fatigue of incubation ; and the prin- 

 cipal share in nursing the helpless brood : to 

 alleviate these fatigues, and to support her un- 

 der them, nature hath given to the male the 

 song, with all the little blandishments and sooth- 

 ing arts ; these he fondly exerts (even after 

 courtship) on some spray contiguous to the nest, 

 during the time his mate is performing her pa- 

 rental duties. But that she should be silent, is 

 also another wise provision of nature, for her 

 song would discover her nest ; as would a gau- 

 diness of plumage, which, for the same reason, 

 seems to have been denied her. 



To these we may add a few particulars that 

 fell within our notice during our enquiries among 

 the bird-catchers, such as, that they immediate- 

 ly kill the hens of every species of birds they 

 take, being incapable of singing, as also being 

 inferior in plumage ; the pippets likewise are in- 

 discriminately destroyed, as the cock does not 



