154 WOOD NOTES WILD. 
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. — Contin. 
“The harsh screams of the clucking hen came up from a gloomy gorge, 
and from the summit of the mountain were faintly heard the lengthened 
flute-like notes, in measured cadence, of the solitaire! Then mocking- 
birds all around broke into song, pouring forth their rich gushes and 
powerful bursts of melody, with a profusion that filled the ear, and over- 
powered all the other varied voices, which were by this time too numerous 
to be separately distinguished, but which all helped to swell the morning 
concert of woodland music.” — Gosse, P. H.: Romance of Nat. Hist., pp. 17-18. 
For night songs see Index, Night Songs. 
RHYTHM. 
The author asserts of the white-throated sparrow that 
the “ charm of his song lies in the rhythm.” The writers 
on bird music are quite at odds on the point of rhythm. 
Mr. Maurice Thompson says : — 
“There is no such an element as the rhythmic beat in any bird-song 
that I have heard. Modulation and fine shades of ‘color,’ as the musical 
critic has it, together with melodious phrasing, take the place of rhythm. 
The meadow-lark, in its mellow fluting, comes very near to a measure of 
two rhythmic beats, and the mourning dove puts a throbbing cadence into 
its plaint ; but the accent which the human ear demands is wholly want- 
ing in each case. 
“ The absence of true rhythm probably is significant of a want of power 
to appreciate genuine music, the bird’s comprehension compassing no more 
than the value of sweet sounds merely as such.” — Thompson, M.: Sylvan 
Secrets, pp. 77, 83. 
Mr. Thompson offers the suggestion that the “chief 
difference between the highest order of bird-music and the 
lowest order of man-music is expressed by the word 
rhythm.” It is more natural to suspect that the order of 
development in bird melody is similar to that in human 
melody, hence that rhythm is the first step. At any rate, 
1 See Index, Solitaire. 
