172 The Bird 
The Syrinx 
This organ is peculiar to birds and, as stated before, 
is alone concerned in the production of the voice, although 
the tongue in parrots may be of some aid in distinctness 
of articulation. But this is not true of any other Order 
of birds, and the operation of splitting the tongue of a 
magpie or crow to “make it talk” is as unnecessary as 
it is inhumanly cruel. 
The syrinx is singularly uniform among birds, and 
this seems the more remarkable when we consider the 
great variety of vocal sounds which are produced. The 
position and the structure of this organ vary within nar- 
row limits, but in general it is composed of several modi- 
fied rings of the lower trachea or upper bronchial tubes. 
The membranes which cover the inner half of each bron- 
chial tube unite at their juncture with the windpipe 
and extend some little way into it as a thin median fold 
of tissue, supported by a bony framework. The tense- 
ness or looseness of this membrane is governed by special 
muscles, of which there are from one to seven pairs. It 
is by the action of these muscles that the varying tones 
of croak, scream, warble, or trill are produced, the air 
from the lungs rushing out through the bronchial tubes 
and past the varying aperture controlled by the syringeal 
membrane. 
We may dissect out every muscle and study trachea, 
syrinx, and bronchi with all the apparatus and instru- 
ments afforded by modern science, and yet the mystery 
