Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 6 (1902).djvu/298

248 two others, rarely learn additional notes after they have become adult. There are notable exceptions to this rule, inasmuch as an Alario Finch (Alario alario) which I possessed for some years entirely forgot its melodious little song, and adopted the far less pleasing song of a Norwich Canary; and my Brazilian Hangnest (Icterus jamacaii) has copied to perfection the almost metallic sharp cry of a Blue-bearded Jay (Cyanocorax cyanopogon), in addition to his own far more pleasing notes.

Certainly the adult birds which are the best mimics, and are easily taught to talk and imitate the cries of various animals, of trumpets, jews'-harps, and the like, are not to be sought among gifted songsters, but among those whose natural cries are more or less harsh and unpleasing—such as the Parrots, Crows, and Starlings. The capacity of some of the Psittacidæ in this respect is practically unlimited. The late Mr. J. Abrahams had a Blue-fronted Amazon which I heard sing the whole of the words of two comic songs, and then whistle the tune of a third—a feat which, I suppose, has never been surpassed even by the best instructed Grey Parrot.

If it were possible—though, unhappily, it rarely is so—the best way to record the songs of birds would be unquestionably by musical notation. My friend Mr. Charles A. Witchell has done much in this direction, but he himself is constrained to admit "that there is no instrument which will automatically reproduce the different tones of birds, and that difference of tone or of timbre is generally more important than difference in musical pitch." For this reason I think it better for anyone who has a good ear to express the songs of birds as closely as he can in words; but, unless he really has a correct appreciation of sound, it is wiser to let the songs of birds severely alone.

As with the songs, so is it with the call-notes, notes of alarm, or defiance; these are wrongly rendered in hundreds of cases, and are frequently transposed, the note of anger being spoken of as the call-note, or the reverse. These are points that need very careful testing before they are put on record; and an observant aviculturist, who has not only watched birds in their native haunts, but has had them constantly before him in moderately large aviaries, is in a better position to form a correct judgment of the meanings of these notes than the collector.