PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS 95 



single note with an artistic perfection that rivals 

 the highest human skill. 



The music of the nightingale has become one 

 of the staple subjects in European literature, and 

 this recognition of its art is most befitting. For 

 considering the long time that this bird has been a 

 neighbour to man, it has surely given more joy to 

 the world than any other bird musician. The sweet 

 song of the nightingale has contributed largely to- 

 ward awakening in the heart of man that sympathy 

 with wild things that harm him not, which is the 

 bright jewel of the present age. 



The song of the thrush possesses a charm pe- 

 culiar to itself, having a vigour and clearness which 

 add to its great variety of tone. At morning and 

 evening his clear joyous notes may be heard in a 

 great rush of triumphant melody — a veritable tor- 

 rent of song. The thrush also possesses the power 

 of mimicry, and his art profits by his borrowing 

 the calls and notes of his bird-neighbours. One ob- 

 server declares that thirty different birds contrib- 

 uted to the repertoire of a certain thrush, and of 

 these sounds, twenty were exactly reproduced. 



By this adaptability the little brown musician, 

 like many human composers, takes the material 

 that is at hand and weaves its song, aided in his ex- 

 pression by its variety. The chifi*-chaff, the wood- 



