138 BIRDS AND MAN 



human being had hailed us while purposely keep- 

 ing out of sight. Finally, if the bird-sounds re- 

 semble refined, bright, and highly musical human 

 voices, the voices, let us say, of young girls in 

 conversation, expressive of various beautiful 

 quaUties-^sympathy, tenderness, innocent mirth, 

 and overflowing gladness of heart — the effect 

 wUl be in the highest degree delightful. 



Herbert Spencer, in his masterly account of 

 the origin of our love of music in his Psychology, 

 writes : " While the tones of anger and authority 

 are harsh and coarse, the tones of sympathy and 

 refinement are relatively gentle and of agreeable 

 timbre. That is to say, the timbre is associated 

 in experience with the receipt of gratification, 

 has acquired a pleasure -giving quahty, and 

 consequently the tones which in music have an 

 alhed timbre become pleasure -giving and are 

 called beautiful. Not that this is the sole cause 

 of their pleasure-giving quality. . . . Still, in 

 recalling the tones of instruments which approach 

 the tones of the human voice, and observing 

 that they seem beautiful in proportion to their 

 approach, we see that this secondary sesthetic 

 element is important." 



