melodists are amongst those put to me 

 bv both young and old after my lectures, 

 and contain a good deal of food for re- 

 flection : Wh\' do some birds sing by 

 night as well as bv dav after they have 

 mated? Whv do some birds cease to sing 

 as soon as their voung ones are hatched, 

 and others continue practically all the 

 year round ? Why does a caged Skjdark 

 sing blithely in a dingy alley, where he 

 has no mate to attract, no rival to 

 challenge, nor any apparent condition 

 of life to induce a feeling of happiness ? 

 "\^^i.3' does a Skjdark practise its notes 

 on "the ground more during the closing 

 than the opening part of the season ? 

 How do birds knoAv of a coming change 

 in the weather and sing joyously to fore- 

 tell it long before man, with all his 

 acquired experience, is aware of the 

 fact ? Wh\' do some winged melodists, 

 such as the Blackbird for instance, sing 

 the best during a shower of rain ? Is it 

 in anticipation of an increased supply of 

 food ? Would a chick that had never 

 heard the song of its own species be able 

 to sing it when it grew up ? 



No answer to many of these interesting 

 questions that are constantlv cropping 

 up will be found in an\' ornithological 



