PARALLEL GROWTH OF BIRD AND HUMAN MUSIC. 
475 
tested), the conclusion seems strong that 
bird music and human music have much 
closer relationship than has heretofore 
been suspected. 
It -has been denied and affirmed fre¬ 
quently that the birds use the intervals 
of our melodic scale. Most writers 
that hold to the negative are inclined 
to except one or two birds, such as the 
European cuckoo, which, they usually 
state, sings a true third. If this were 
the only case noted, it would still go 
far to support the idea of a relation¬ 
ship between the development of human 
and avian music; but to the cuckoo must 
be added various other birds. The Caro¬ 
lina wren, song-sparrow, field-sparrow, 
chickadee, wood-thrush, chewink, wood- 
pewee, tufted titmouse, blue-gray gnat- 
catcher, and robin are a random few of 
those that, occasionally at least, use the 
intervals of our scale. I do not mean 
by this to assert that their notes never 
vary by a shade from the exact tones 
of which our scale is scientifically con¬ 
structed—that tried, for example, by a 
resonator such as is used to test over¬ 
tones they would be found to correspond 
identically in number of vibrations with 
the notes of the true scale; but I do 
mean to say that their tones are usually 
so close to the tones of our scale as to 
satisfy the ordinary requirements of a 
musical ear. They are quite as true as 
those generally uttered by human throats. 
Hence it may be stated with confidence 
that in their choice of intervals such 
birds as I have mentioned are often gov¬ 
erned by the requirements of our mod¬ 
ern scale. 
As I write, the song of a song-sparrow 
enters the window beside which I sit at 
work, the first part of which consists of 
a perfect fifth repeated thrice: 
beat so marked as to convey the fanciful 
impression that the singer was a most 
unwilling performer: 
It has been my custom latterly, where 
it is possible, to give the metronome num¬ 
ber with each notation that I make in the 
field (which is, of course, not feasible un¬ 
less the song can be divided into regular 
beats), and very few notations made 
within the past three or four years are 
without this indication of appreciation of 
time on the part of the singer. 
The use of repetition among birds is 
very common with some species; and 
whether it be in the repetition of a single 
note, with which the song-sparrow fre¬ 
quently begins its song, as in the fol¬ 
lowing example: 
J— 192. 
^ • • • • 
-0. . 0 . . 0 . -0. 
Q - h—h - 1 - 1 - 
* -1 
/ 
1 1 ' 
-w-\ - 1 — 
-1- 
^ J 
1 
y \ j 
f y : 
1 
tJ 
or in the repetition of a phrase, as in one 
from a tufted titmouse: 
J = i68. 
t 
or in a few selected from the many and 
varied utterances of the Carolina wren: 
J — 120. 
-0 - 
1_ 
* — a 
L_ A -U ... 
* — m 
\- & . i .. _ 
w 5 
V 
11 
The sense of rhythm, like the use of 
diatonic intervals, is variously developed 
among birds. Perhaps the Carolina wren 
is the strictest timist that I have listen¬ 
ed to, though one chewink song showed 
an almost absurd attention to time. It 
was uttered with an emphasis on each 
or many other repetitions of single notes 
or phrases, which could just as readily 
