Song Birds and Water Fowl 



hears a whirlwind of notes suddenly crystallizing 

 into a dancing phrase, followed by a luminous 

 whirr of sound that baffles all attempts at clear 

 description. This tripping phrase is the nu- 

 cleus, the transparent gem, in the vocal setting 

 of this famous singer's ecstasy, like a sparkling 

 diamond in the forefront of a kingly crown. 

 The warbling vireo, with no such climactic 

 point of rhythmic simplicity, has just the mel- 

 lifluous and aimless exuberance of an innocent 

 damsel of sixteen ; leaving upon the listener no 

 other distinct impression than that of a saccha- 

 rine and slightly insipid pleasure. 



Among all the "warblers" (who, however, 

 never warble), and whose musical efforts are com- 

 monly very brief and rather pointless, there is one 

 notable exception, as regards decisive rhythm 

 and inflection, in the beautiful "black-throated 

 green," who evidently has a very distinct im- 

 pression of what he is about to say before he 

 begins to sing. The intonation is remarkably 

 pure, the tones have a broad range in the scale, 

 and the swing is very marked. In general, I 

 pity the innocence of those who reduce bird 

 melodies to human musical notation, in the ex- 

 pectation that they will convey any correct 

 idea; but such a course is warranted in the 



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