202 



SONG OF THE SWAN. 



known 'whoop.' But one summer evening I was amused 

 with watching and listening to a domesticated one, as he 

 swam up and down the water in the Regent's Park. He 

 turned up a sort of melody, made with two notes, C and 

 the minor third, E flat, and kept working his head as if 

 delighted with his own performance. 



" The melody, taken down on the spot by a first-rate 

 musician, Auguste Bertini, was as follows : — 



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ds»— 



=Ct 





2£" 



■fW=x: 



SEE 



m^m 



3EE 



The Abbe Arnaud has written some interesting remarks 

 upon the voice of the swan.* He says : — 



"The swan, with his wings expanded, his neck out- 

 stretched, and his head erect, places himself opposite his 

 mate, uttering a cry to which the female replies by 

 another half a note lower. The voice of the male rises 

 from A (la), to B fiat (si bemol) ; that of the female from 

 G sharp (sol diese), to A.+ The first note is short and 

 transient, and has the effect which our musicians term 

 sensible , so that it is not separated from the second, but 

 seems to glide into it. Observe that, fortunately for the 

 ear, they do not both sing at once ; in fact, if, while the 

 male sounded B flat, the female gave A, or if the male 



* Wood's " Buffon," xix. p. 511, note. 



+ This, it will be observed, differs materially from Col. Hawker's observation. 



