418 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



are musical are unable to distinguish different songs as readily 

 as those who are not. I feel convinced that it is one of those 

 things which is possible for anyone to learn with patience and 

 close observation. We notice the same ignorance with regard to 

 the appreciation of the beauty in the form of a bird. But can we 

 wonder at this when even artists, whose powers one would think 

 were altogether trained to appreciate that which is beautiful in 

 form of every description, fail to appreciate that which is beauti- 

 ful in a bird ? That one has to be educated to beauty we know ; 

 but the same beauty of form, which for generations has been 

 worshipped in the perfect human body, is to be found amongst 

 all creatures in nature by those who seek for it. And yet I feel 

 tempted to say that a naturalist without these two gifts — namely, 

 the understanding of their language, and the appreciation of 

 their form, which undoubtedly they understand amongst them- 

 selves as readily as their language — cannot be called a naturalist 

 in the highest sense of the word. But I am digressing. 



What are the causes of this variation of song ? Is it due to 

 some cause local or temporary, or does it depend on some general 

 law which governs the whole animal kingdom ? We naturally 

 turn our thoughts to the human language and the human voice, 

 and it appears to me that we have here somewhat of an analogous 

 case. It is, I think, an admitted fact that dialect is due to 

 climatic influence, and, again, that a damp or wet climate has 

 the effect of relaxing the vocal chords, and thereby lowering the 

 pitch. Does this apply to birds? Dialect perhaps expresses 

 this variation better than arrangement. I noticed in Sark that 

 the song and call notes of certain species were uniformly lower 

 than in the county of Worcestershire. Among the most striking 

 were the call notes of the Blackbird and Chaffinch, and the songs 

 of the Great Tit and Wren. This phenomenon I had previously 

 noticed in the west of Donegal, and having occasion to be there 

 shortly afterwards, I made special observations on this point, 

 and found the same thing in the Blackbird, Chaffinch, and Wren; 

 and in addition amongst the following species : Corn-Bunting, 

 Yellow Bunting, Sedge-Warbler, Whitethroat, Swallow, Blue 

 Tit, and Coal-Tit. It has always been late in July when I have 

 been there, otherwise I have no doubt I should have found it to 

 be the general rule amongst many classes of birds. 



