478 



SONG OF BIRDS. 



the throat than the hard-billed-species. This, together with the greater 

 width of the larynx of the nightingale and other soft -billed warblers, 

 fully accounts for their soft, round, mellow notes, compared with the 

 shrill, sharp, and clear notes of the canary and other hard-billed song- 

 sters. In a comprehensive sense, the complete song of birds includes 

 all the notes they are capable of uttering ; and, taken in this sense, it is 

 analogous to the speech of man. It is the vehicle through which these 

 little creatures communicate and convey to each other their mutual 

 wishes and their wants. It may be divided into six distinct separate 

 sounds or parts, each of which is very expressive, even to us, of the 

 feelings which agitate the bird at the moment. To describe their song 

 more fully, we shall divide it in the following manner: First, The 

 call-note of the male in spring ; second, The loud, clear, ardent, fierce 

 notes of defiance; third, The soft, tender, full, melodious, love warble; 

 fourth, The notes of fear or alarm, when danger approaches the nest ; 

 fifth, The note of alarm, or war-cry, when a bird of prey appears ; 

 sixth, The note the parent-birds utter to their brood, and the chirp or 

 note of the young. The note of the young may be again divided into 

 two, — that which they utter while in the nest, and the chirp after they 

 have left it, — for they are very distinct sounds or notes ; to which may 

 be added, a soft, murmuring kind of note, emitted by the male while he 

 is feeding the female in the nest ; and also by her while she is receiving 

 the food. The call-note ; the warble of love ; and the notes of defi- 

 ance, or prelude to battle, seem only to be understood by birds of the 

 same species, at least in a wild state. Perhaps, in a state of domesti- 

 cation, birds of different genera, if nearly allied, may partially compre- 

 hend these notes, as the canary bird does the notes of the siskin, the 

 goldfinch, and the linnet. But this, we think, is more occasioned by 

 necessity than choice in these birds ; and, in this case, it is man who breaks 

 down the barriers nature has so wisely put between different species. 

 The note of fear or alarm of the cock-bird, by which he gives notice to 

 the hen of the approach of danger near the nest, and which she per- 

 • fectly understands — for she either keeps close, or quietly makes her 

 escape ; this note, we think, is also only comprehended by birds of the 

 same species, though we have certainly seen birds of different genera 

 appear as if alarmed by this note of fear, sounded by a bird of a dif- 

 ferent species or genus ; but whether it was the note that alarmed 

 them, or our presence, we cannot say. But we are pretty sure, the 

 notes of parent-birds, and the chirp of their young, are only understood 

 by birds of the same species, or, rather we should say, family, for it 



