THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. I9I 



The sounds of birds have been studied, per- 

 haps, more than any others except those of men, 

 but they have not been studied as speech nor to 

 ascertain their meanings. Their musical char- 

 acter has attracted attention and has been the 

 subject of some discussion. My opinion is that 

 much that has been said on that subject belongs 

 more properly to the realm of poetry than of sci- 

 ence. I think the sounds of birds are chiefly 

 intended for speech, but they may supply the 

 place of music in their aesthetic being ; but so far 

 as I have observed, I confess that I cannot find 

 that they obey the laws of harmony, melody, or 

 time, and it is my opinion that most of the efforts 

 to write the sounds of birds on a musical staff are 

 not to be relied upon as accurate records of the 

 sounds. There is no doubt that each sound ut- 

 tered by a bird is in unison with some note in 

 the chromatic scale of music, but the intervals 

 between the tones of the same bird do not coin- 

 cide with those of the human voice. It is quite 

 evident that birds possess an acute sense and 

 ready faculty for music, and many of them show 

 great aptitude in imitating the sounds of music: 1 

 instruments; some varieties of birds, such as the 

 Southern mocking-bird, the thrush, and others, 



