46 
BIKD-LIFE. 
exquisitely, introduces many a jarring note into its 
strophes; it is by this very defect that the Blackbird and 
the Thrush mar the harmony of their wondrous wood-song. 
There is not a single songster which utters each 
separate strophe always in the same order in succession, 
but invariably weaves them together in an ever-varying 
sequence; and it is exactly on this account that a bird’s 
natural song is so far superior to any air it may have 
learnt by rote; and hence the bird’s power of rendering 
in its song the heart’s impulse of the moment, though the 
outline of the song is the result of previous composition, 
appears to us so marvellous. The bird meditates upon 
and rehearses its composition long before it is perfect; at 
first it practises single tones gently, and then more forcibly. 
When vying with another songster of its own species it 
essays to interweave into its own song the most exquisite 
parts of its rival’s composition. After a long season of 
continued silence, the bird first tries its throat in secret, 
and endeavours to reproduce the old notes, if possible, 
with still greater fulness than ever. Many a Philomel 
Nightingale requires a month’s rehearsal to perfect a 
composition, and at the outset utters the strophes in so 
low and confused a manner, that they may be called mere 
songs rather than compositions. The finest songsters, 
after the yearly break, are not able to reproduce every 
strophe in their composition without regular study and 
practice. 
All singing birds are instructed in their art by the 
elder males. Nature contributes, likewise, her share of 
instruction; thus are explained those frequent variations 
in the song of the same species in different localities. 
The melody of the gloomy pine forest is of a different 
character to that of the leafy coppice ; the mountains are 
