INTRODUCTION. 
3 
evening praise while soaring to the sky, is 
never equalled by hearing the most scientific 
musical performer, although I confess my- 
self to be an enthusiastic admirer of music ; 
but those God-taught minstrels are superior 
to anything the art of man can perform ; 
for the Great Master who has instructed 
these feathered songsters surpasses all other 
teachers. Most truly and sweetly does the 
poet write of the " Notes of the Birds," 
when he says — 
Their tones 
Are sweeter than the music of the lute, 
Or the harp's melody, or the notes that gush 
So thrillingly from beauty's ruby lip. 
The songs of birds may be considered as 
national melodies, for each has its own pecu- 
liar music, as well as climate, and who is 
there that can contemplate their form, the 
texture of their feathers, the diversity and 
