Bird Duets

A third similarity is shown in the fact that birds possess a musical taste and show ap­preciation of musical tones. Mr. Oldys cites cases where birds sing duets, one immediately following the other, where the second bird sings a theme which naturally follows and completes the theme of the first bird. The birds have been known to repeat these several times, each waiting till the other fin­ishes. In some cases where two birds were singing unrelated themes, one bird has been known to change its theme so as to make it harmonize with the other's notes. This antiphonal form of singing has been observed especially among meadowlarks, but also among chickadees, chewinks, song sparrows, and field sparrows. These duets are usually sung between birds of the same species, but occasionally are heard between birds of different species.

Classification of bird songs. It is extremely diffi­cult to make a classification of bird songs that will appeal to all people in the same way, but the following crude grouping is suggested as hinting at some of the more conspicuous differences in bird songs.

Instrumentalists. The first group might be called "instrumentalists," as they do not make the sound with the throat, but with the bill, wings, or an air­sac. In its general purpose, however, the sound made corresponds with the songs of the song-birds. The woodpeckers, the ruffed grouse, and the prairie chicken belong to this group. The woodpeckers pro­duce their note by beating on a limb with their bills. The grouse produces its sound by beating the air with its wings. The prairie chicken produces his booming sound by means of air-sacs situated on the sides of the head.

Syllable songs. A second group of songs may in­clude those which possess enough similarity to spoken syllables so that the bird has been named from its song. In this group belong such birds as the chickadee, bob-white, wood pewee, chebec, pheebe, and whip-poor-will. The songs of these birds are not very musical, but some are rather pleasing, as that of the chickadee. No sharp line can be drawn between these songs and the whistle songs men­tioned in the next paragraph, as some of these sylla­ble songs possess the character of a whistle.

Whistle songs. In a third group may be placed most of the remainder of the song-birds which have a more or less complex song of a whistled character, many of which are very musical and pleasing.

Some songs are monotonous, like that of the chip­ping sparrow; others are varied, like that of the song sparrow. Some are ringing and loud, like that of the Baltimore oriole; others are soft and subdued, like that of the vesper sparrow. Some are unmusical, like that of the phcebe; others are musical, like that of the wood thrush.

Among the birds which deserve special mention, either on account of the variety or the pleasing qual­ity of their notes, are the house wren, the Baltimore oriole, the rose-breasted grosbeak, the catbird, the brown thrasher, the goldfinch, the song sparrow, the vesper sparrow, the wood thrush, the very, and the hermit thrush.

The wren's song consists of a warble without much variety, but very cheerful, and given almost continuously during the day. •The grosbeak has a pleasing warble reminding one of the robin. The brown thrasher's notes suggest an orchestra. The goldfinch has been well named the "wild canary." The song of the vesper sparrow has a subdued, rest­ful character, frequently heard in the late afternoon. Probably the first place among the bird musicians should be given to one of the thrushes. There is a resonant, ringing, penetrating character about their notes that it is impossible to describe.

The singing birds with reference to their songs are dis­tinguishable into four classes: The rapid singers, whose song is uninterrupted, of considerable length, and deliv­ered in apparent ecstasy, like the bobolink; the moderate singers, whose notes are slowly modulated, without pauses or rests between the different strains, like the robin and veery; the interrupted singers, who sometimes modulate their notes with rapidity, but make a distinct pause after each strain, like the red thrush and hermit thrush. The fourth class includes birds whose lay con­sists only of two or three notes, not sufficient to be called a song, like the bluebird and golden robin.

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