IIESl'ERO.MVS l.ia-COl'US. 269 



from him. His song was not a chirp, but a continuous sona of mu- 

 sical tone, a kmtl of to-7oi t -to-ivcc-iooo-woo-iucc-iuoo, quite varied in 

 pitch." 



The most extended and interesting account that I have seen of a 

 singing Hcspcroniys is from the pen of the Rev. Samuel Lockwood. 

 The subject of his sketch was caught in Florida 1)\- Philip Ryall, 

 Esq.. and was presented to Dr. Lockwood. wlio named it licspie. 

 Its vocal powers were extraordinary, and two of its most frequendy 

 repeated performances were termed respecti\el\' the Wheel Song 

 and the Grand Role, and were expressed in musical notation by Mr. 

 Ferris C. Lockwood. After describing her ordinary songs in great 

 detail. Dr. Lockwood observes: "A remarkable f^ict in the above 

 role is the scope of litde Hespie's musical powers. Her soft, clear 

 voice falls an octave with all the precision possible ; then at the 

 wind-up, it rises again into a \-ery quick trill on C sharp and D. 



" Though it be at the risk of taxing belief yet I must in duty record 

 one of Hespie's most remarkable performances. She was o-ambolino- 

 in the large compartment of her cage, in a mood indicating intense 

 animal enjo)'ment, having woke from a long sleep, and partaken of 

 some favorite food. She burst into a fulness of song ver)- rich in its 

 variety. While running and jumping, she rolled off what I have 

 called her Grand Role, then sitting-, she went over it ai>ain, rino-incr 

 out the strangest diversity of changes, by an almost whimsical trans- 

 position of the bars ; then without for an instant stopping the music, 

 she leapt into the wheel, started it revolving at its highest speed, 

 and went through the Wheel Song in exquisite style, giving several 

 repetidons of it. After this she returned to the large compartment, 

 took up again the Grand Role, and put into it some variations of 

 execution which astonished me. One measure 1 remember was so 

 silvery and soft, that I said to a lady who was listening, that a canary 

 able to execute that would be worth a hundred dollars. I occasionally 

 detected what I am uttcM'ly unable to explain, a literal tlual sound, very 

 like a boy whistling as he draws a stick along the pickets of a fence. 



