ON THE SINGING OF BIRDS. s^l 



for, in such instances, the passages are not only 

 the same, but the tone. 



Such was the event of the experiment I have 

 before mentioned of the linnet educated under a ' ' 



"vengolina. * 



In my experiment, however, of teaching the ' 

 sparrow the notes of the linnet, though the scho- 

 lar imitated the passages of its master, yet the 

 tone of the sparrow had by no means the mel- 

 lowness of the original. 



The imitation might therefore be, in some 

 measure, compared to the singing of an opera 

 song by a black-guard, when, though the notes 

 may be precisely the same, yet the manner and 

 tone would differ very mach. 



Thus also the linnet, which I heard repeat 

 the words pretty boy, did not articulate like 

 a parrot, though, at the same time, the words 

 might be clearly distinguished. /:/..;. ; 



The education I have therefore been speaking 

 of will not give new organs of voice to a bird, 



stances which he chiefly attended to were their weight, as well 

 as both the consistence and colour of their dung. 



He always frankly said what he expected from his prescrip- 

 tions, and that if such and such changes did not soon take place, ■ ■ 

 the case was desperate. He frequently also refused to prescribe, 

 if the bird felt too light in the hand, or he thought that there was 

 not sufficient time to bring about an alteration in the dung. 



* The ^wgo/a Finch. Lath. Syn.ni.oOQ. BuffonHisi.d'ois, 

 iv. 80. Edwards tab. 129. Ep. 



