72 The Bird 



The Syrinx 



This organ is peculiar to birds and, as stated before, 

 is alone concerned in the production of the voice, although 

 the tongue in parrots may be of some aid in distinctness 

 of articulation. But this is not true of any other Order 

 of birds, and the operation of splitting the tongue of a 

 magpie or crow to "make it talk" is as unnecessary as 

 it is inhumanly cruel. 



The syrinx is singularly uniform among birds, and 

 this seems the more remarkable when we consider the 

 great variety of vocal sounds which are produced. The 

 position and the structure of this organ vary within nar- 

 row limits, but in general it is composed of several modi- 

 fied rings of the lower trachea or upper bronchial tubes. 

 The membranes which cover the inner half of each bron- 

 chial tube unite at their juncture with the windpipe 

 and extend some little way into it as a thin median fold 

 of tissue, supported by a bony framework. The tense- 

 ness or looseness of this membrane is governed by special 

 muscles, of which there are from one to seven pairs. It 

 is by the action of these muscles that the varying tones 

 of croak, scream, warble, or trill are produced, the air 

 from the lungs rushing out through the bronchial tubes 

 and past the varying aperture controlled by the syringeal 

 membrane. 



We may dissect out every muscle and study trachea, 

 syrinx, and bronchi with all the apparatus and instru- 

 ments afforded by modern science, and yet the mystery 



