NATURAL OF HISTORY. JUNE, 1836. ART. I. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. Observations on the Singing of Birds, in Reply to the Question, Why do Birds sing? (VII. 484–486.) By Mr. W. H. WHITE. "Tell me not of the birds in a tropical clime, Whose splendour and beauty our own far outshine; Though in plumage of silver and gold they be drest, Yet my own little songsters I e'er shall love best." THE return of spring, the bleating of the sheep, the skipping of the lambs, the whistle of the shepherd, the carols of the feathered songsters, have forcibly reminded me of Mr. Conway's question, "Why do birds sing?" (VII. 484-486.) As the singing of birds, both in the cage and in a state of freedom, has always been a source of great delight to me, I will venture to offer a few remarks on Mr. Conway's question, which, I agree with him, is a " question of some difficulty:" still it is a question of peculiar interest to every lover of nature; and, although I should greatly prefer reading the opinions of some one much better qualified than I am to do ample justice to the subject (and I know of no one more capable than Mr. Waterton, as alluded to by S. D. W. in IX. 207.), yet I should consider myself deficient in common etiquette, were I to withhold any ideas, how humble soever they may be, from a fellow-enquirer, if I thought that those ideas were in any degree calculated to throw any additional light upon the subject of enquiry. If, after all, I shall fail, like those who have previously given their opinions on this subject, to give a satisfactory solution to the question, I shall not consider the attempt altogether useless, if it stimulate others to follow up the enquiry till a complete answer be obtained, and that, too, upon such rational principles as shall stand the test of succeeding generations. The following observations upon the exciting cause of song VOL. IX. No. 62. Y in birds (for that I consider to be implied by the question, Why do birds sing?") are chiefly original. 66 Take any song bird, "Cheerful tenant of the bough;" say the nightingale, "Sweet songstress of the night," than whose, none of our woodland songsters' sounds are so full, so prolonged, so harmonious, especially when our ears are greeted "At the silent solemn hour, When night and morning meet;" when so sweetly pouring from his tiny throat "A cadence soft and holy As the gentlest song of earth; I say, take any song bird, and we shall soon perceive the difference between the melodious warblings of these interesting and innocent creatures, and the horrid scream of the "carcass-loving vulture." [The Means by which Singing Birds sing.]- The Fringillida and the Sylviada appear to be the two principal families upon which the voice of song has been conferred; and, therefore, a reference to the structure of their organs of song will be necessary to answer the question proposed. If we listen attentively to the warblings of our various little songsters (and, if with a musical ear, our gratification will be greatly increased), we shall find that each species has a scale of notes peculiar to itself, and, also, peculiar modulations of voice; hence, to form a correct judgment of the formation of their varied and beautiful intonations, it may not be improper to delineate the organ by which those various and melodious strains are produced; and, also, by way of comparison, the organ of voice in those species of the feathered race which are denied song. [See in figs. 38. and 39.] To any one wholly unacquainted with the construction of the organ of song in birds, it must appear a matter of very great surprise, how an instrument so small, and possessing so much simplicity, should produce such an almost endless variety of sounds; but the strength and compass of the voice of a song bird depend on the size and proportionate force of the larynx, which, in the female, is small and weak; and which, I think, in a great measure, accounts for her want of song, or, at least, for her want of that force and power which a more ample organ confers on the male. Mr. Conway asks, "Do not the females of some birds sing occasionally as well as the males?" This question I can answer in the affirmative. The subdued and interesting warble of the hedge sparrow (Accéntor modulàris Cuv.) is not at all uncommonly to be heard. The female of the reed bunting may, also, frequently be heard in the close of the evening; and some others of the smaller species of songsters; but their notes are always very feeble, and less musical than those of the males, owing, I have no doubt, to the smallness and weakness of the tracheal tube, as before observed. I believe that musicians generally allow the notes of birds of all kinds to bear a strong resemblance to wind instruments, and the tones of the human voice more accurately to resemble those of the Æolian harp; and this difference seems to be thus accounted for: the different intonations of the human voice are produced by the tension of two chords, called chorda vocales, which are stretched across the aperture of the superior part of the laryngeal tube, called rima glottidis [the aperture named the glottis *]. But these chorda vocales are wanting in song birds, and their various intonations and modulations are made by the extending and contracting of the laryngeal tube itself, which is both coated and lined with a very fine membrane, so as to give it every possible degree of flexibility. Besides these essentials to the production of so many varied tones, the laryngeal tube is further furnished with five pairs of muscles, called the muscles of voice, which greatly assist in contracting the diameter of the laryngeal tube, in almost imperceptible degrees, so as to produce almost every degree of intonation and modulation so apparent in our feathered warblers. We have only to witness the singing of the canary or nightingale in a cage, to perceive the contraction and dilatation of the larynx, in order to assure ourselves that these observations are in perfect accordance with the construction [* It has been shown by M. Dodart (Rees's Cyclopædia, vol. xxxvii., art. Voice), that the extension and contraction of the glottis is caused by two tendinous cords in its two lips. The more the aperture is lessened, the higher becomes the tone of voice, because the wind then passes through with greater rapidity. The small size of the glottis in female singers causes the high tone of their voice. There is didactic information on the organs, and more their functions, concerned in man's articulation, in the 8vo, not the 12mo, Murray's English Grammar, ed. 26th, p. 32-35., under the title "The Nature of Articulation explained." Information on the glottis is included; but its figure is not stated this, in a MS. from which the initial part of this note is taken, is compared to an oval, coming to a point at each end.] of the organs of song. But I hope to make these observations more clear, by noticing, that, in the vulture, and other birds of that kind, the muscles of voice are entirely wanting; while the gallinaceous tribes, as well as the waders and swimmers generally, have but one pair of muscles. The Psittacida [parrot family] possess three pairs of these muscles of voice: but no birds, I believe, are found to possess four pairs of muscles; hence, the more we look into the construction of the organs of song in birds, we shall find the more reason to be convinced of their adaptation for the highly interesting and agreeable employment of their vocal powers; and the more, also, shall we see of the power and wisdom of Him who created them. The trachea in song birds (fig. 38.) is always short and straight; and, according to the slenderness of the cartilaginous 38 b The trachea, or windpipe, of the song bird: -a, the superior larynx; b, the tracheal tube; c, the inferior larynx; d, the bronchus, which passes to the lungs; e e, the os hyoïdes, or bones of the tongue; f, the tongue. rings, and the spaces between them, so will be the variations of the notes, and the almost endless variety of modulations and inflections, arising from the rapid motion of the laryngeal tube, producing those wonderful effects (to my ears, at least) of piano and forte, or soft and loud; sounds not only vying with the proudest efforts of art on the violin, flute, clarionet, or even the mellow-toned harp, but still keeping up a strain that never wearies by repetition, but increases our delight by every new variation. "Well do I love those various harmonies, That ring so gaily in spring's budding woods, "Their tones Are sweeter than the music of the lute, Or the harp's melody, or the notes that gush If we notice the tracheal tube of wading and swimming birds (fig. 39., which is a rude sketch of the trachea of the * J. M'Lellan, jun., an American poet. The trachea of the common swan, a species of bird to which song is denied :-a a, the larynx in the convoluted form; b, the inferior larynx; cc, the bronchi. common swan, Cygnus mùtus), we shall not find it short, straight, and exceedingly flexible, as in song birds; but long, and often exhibiting forms still more convoluted and extraordinary than in the above rude sketch. Now, as the tracheal tube of these birds is longer, wider, and less flexible, than the tracheal tube of song birds, and, besides, is only assisted by one pair of muscles; it is less capable of producing those various intonations, and agreeable sounds, which characterise the Fringillida and the Sylvìadæ ; hence, the longer, wider, and more convoluted the tracheal tube is, the more do the sounds produced through it resemble those of the French horn, or the trumpet, or other bass instruments, and the fewer intonations and variations it is also capable of producing. These few observations, I think, will tend to show, more or less clearly, why some birds sing, and others do not; namely, because some birds possess those requisite organs for producing various sounds, while others are entirely destitute of them. [The Cause why Singing Birds sing.]-Having endeavoured to show that particular species of birds have certain organs in every respect adapted for song, I shall now make a few observations on the exciting cause of their singing. It will probably be more difficult to account for this, than to describe the formation of the organs of singing; and, therefore, in reply to this part of the question (for I consider the question a twofold one), I would ask, do we sufficiently understand the language of birds, to account for the many different intonations of voice? [VII. 481-483. 501-503.] May there not be some particularly sympathetic or affectionate |