CHAPTEE VIII. 



BIRDS WITH UNMUSICAL VOICES. 



Theee are quite a number of birds wbose un- 

 musical voices are frequently heard along the high- 

 way, and whose emphatic and curiously expressive 

 notes are nearly as interesting as the songs of more 

 skillful singers. 



It is not perfectly just, however, to use the term 

 unmusical in connection with any of the voices of 

 Nature, but I employ the word here in a comparative 

 sense. An acute ear will detect the musical quality 

 in every sound ; the unmusical ear is simply more or 

 less tone-deaf. He who sings so simple a melody as 

 My Country 'tis of thee, and "flats" without 

 knowing it, lacks the ability to measure the intervals 

 between the tones ; he could never make a pianoforte 

 tuner! How much less, then, can we expect him to 

 discover the distinct musical fifth in the distant bel- 

 low of a cow on the hillside : * 



* Not all cows bellow thus, but a great many come exceedingly 



close to this description. 



120 



