12 
THE CONDOR 
I Vol. IV 
A Study of Bird Songs. 
BY JNO. J. WILLIAMS. 
CHAPTER I. PREPARATORY STUDY OF BIRD SONGS. 
I N treating of such a complex subject 
as Bird Songs, there are usually two 
methods of procedure open to the 
observer. One way, and the more 
common one too, is to lump the whole 
subject into as small a space as possible 
and, considering it collectively, go into 
rhapsodies over the enchantment of 
some bird’s songs, the soul stirring 
melodies of others, or the sad sorrowful 
intonations of others, exactly as we do 
with human singers, while a criticism 
of the harsh, monotonous, discordant or 
lesser cries and notes of a host of others 
is relegated to some later edition, or at 
best, passed over in scorn, the writer 
securing his or her basis for such a trea- 
tise from a week’s visit to some neigh- 
bor’s country home. 
No thought of the eternal life strug- 
gle that has been molding and perfect- 
ing even the poorest avian solos, enters 
into their consideration of the subject; 
no inborn love for the birds themselves 
bestirs the author’s mighty pen; no 
question arises as to the causes or use- 
fulness of the songs themselves. In 
short they are beautiful or harsh or sad 
to them and that is all there is to it. 
This is the simpler method of treating 
the subject, but there is a more thorough 
way which gives better results even if 
it is a little more intricate. In the first 
place bird songs, as a rule, are not the 
meaningless warblings and twitterings 
they may seem to be to the casual ob- 
server. Most of them are used by the 
birds for various purposes or to further 
certain ends, although some probably 
are not as useful to them as others. 
Even a student of bird songs will at 
times run across a note or a song which 
apparently is useless to the bird itself 
and 5'et a little more study of it will 
later on disclose to him its usefulness. 
Sucli at least has been my experience. 
Originally the pleasure that birds’ 
songs gave me was a passing one. 
Eater on while they sang, I listened 
and when their songs ceased I went on 
my way somewhat reluctantly. Then 
from sim ply listening to their murmur- 
ings and forgetting them, I gradually 
came to look forward to them, wonder- 
ing at their innumerable variatians and 
trying to memorize some of the simpler 
ones, for what reason I knew not. But 
this I quickly found was hard work. 
To listen to the ups and downs of a 
bird’s song is easy for anyone to do 
but to mentally photograph all or any 
of these variations, so that the mind can 
partially recall them later on, is a task 
for even a practiced observer. Soon I 
found tliat their songs were really sep- 
arable into two main divisions, that is 
common and special notes, and true 
songs. 
In some cases the two divisions inter- 
grade to some extent, as might be ex- 
pected, but taken throughout they 
formed two distinct classes of vocal ef- 
forts, and the common and special notes 
were much more easily remembered, 
owing to their simplicity and more fre- 
quent use. This subdivision into two 
classes also saved some confusion in 
studying them, for by putting the songs 
aside, temporarily, and concentrating 
observation and memory on the simpler 
notes, a better foundation for a detailed 
study of songs proper, was made. 
Among the common and special notes 
I included those used for warning, call- 
ing or commanding, and also the very 
varied flying and perching notes and 
then I began considering them separ- 
atel}'. Until then I was in complete 
ignorance of their importance and mean- 
ing to the birds, thinking as others did 
possibly, that they might be of some slight 
use to them or they would not make use 
of them and it must have been about 
