comes eye-witness of the pullers seldom failing. The wild birds fly (as the bird-catchers term it) chiefly during the month of October, and part of September and November; as the flight in March is much less considerable than that of Michaelmas. It is to be noted also, that the several species of birds of flight do not make their appearance precisely at the same time, during the months of September, October, and November. The Pippet †, for example, begins to fly about Michaelmas, and then the Woodlark, Linnet, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, and other birds of flight succeed, all of which are not easily to be caught, or in any numbers, at any other time, and more particularly the Pippet and the Woodlark. These birds during the Michaelmas and March flights, are chiefly on the wing from day-break to noon, though there is afterwards a small flight from two till night; but this however is so inconsiderable, that the bird-catchers always take up their nets at noon. It may well deserve the attention of the naturalist whence these periodical flights of certain birds can arise. As the ground however is ploughed during the months of October and March for sowing the winter and lent corn, it should seem that they are thus supplied with a great profusion both of seeds and insects, which they cannot so easily procure at any other season. It may not be improper to mention another circumstance, to be observed during their flitting, viz. that they fly always against the wind; hence there is great contention amongst the bird-catchers, who shall gain that point; if (for example) it is westerly, the bird-catcher who lays his nets most to the east, is sure almost of catching every thing provided his callbirds are good; a gentle wind to the south-west generally produces the best sport. The bird-catcher who is a substantial man, and hath a proper apparatus for this purpose, generally carries with him five or six linnets (of which more are caught than any singing bird), two goldfinches, two green finches, one woodlark, one red * These nets are known in most parts of England by the name of day-nets or clap-nets; but all we have seen are far inferior in their mechanism to those used near London. + A small species of Lark, but which is inferior to other birds of that genus in point of song. poll, a yellow hammer, titlark, and aberdavine, and perhaps a bullfinch; these are placed at small distances from the nets in little cages. He hath besides what are called flur birds, which are placed within the nets, are raised upon the flur”, and gently let down at the time the wild bird approaches them. These generally consist of the linnet, the goldfinch, and the greentinch, which are secured to the flur by what is called a bracet ; a contrivance that secures the birds without doing any injury to their plumage. It having been found that there is a superiority between bird and bird, from the one being more in song than the other; the bird-catchers contrive that their callbirds should moult before the usual time. They therefore in June or July, put them into a close box, under two or three folds of blankets, and leave their dung in the cage to raise a greater heat; in which state they continue, being perhaps examined but once a week to have fresh water. As for food, the air is so putrid, that they eat little during the whole state of confinement, which lasts about a month. The birds frequently die under the operation and hence the value of a stopped bird rises greatly. When the bird hath thus prematurely moulted, he is in song, whilst the wild birds are out of song, and his note is louder and more piercing than that of a wild one; but it is not only in his note he receives an alteration, the plumage is equally improved. The black and yellow in the wings of the goldfinch for example, become deeper and more vivid, together with a most beautiful gloss which is not to be seen in the wild bird. The bill, which in the latter is likewise black at the end, in the stopped bird becomes white and more taper, as do its legs; in short there is as much difference between a wild and stopped bird, as there is between a horse which is kept in body clothes, or at grass. * A moveable perch to which the bird is tied, and which the bird-catcher can raise at pleasure, by means of a long string fastened to it. A sort of bandage formed of a slender silken string that is fastened round the bird's body, and under the wings in so artful a manner as to hinder the bird from being hurt, let it flutter ever so much in the raising. We have been lately informed by an experienced bird-catcher, that he pursues a cooler regimen in stopping his birds, and that he therefore seldom loses one; but we suspect that there is not the same certainty of making them moult. 3S2 When When the bird-catcher hath laid his nets, he disposes of his call-birds at proper intervals. It must be owned, that there is a most malicious joy in these call-birds, to bring the wild ones into the same state of captivity; which may likewise be observed with regard to the decoy ducks. Their sight and hearing infinitely excels that of the bird-catcher. The instant that the wild birds are perceived, notice is given by one to the rest of the call-birds (as it is by the first hound that hits on the scent to the rest of the pack) after which follows the same sort of tumultuous ecstacy and joy. The call-birds, while the bird is at a distance, do not sing as a bird does in a chamber; they invite the wild ones by what the bird-catchers call short jerks, which, when the birds are good, may be heard at a great distance. The ascendancy by this call or invitation is so great that the wild bird is stopped in its course of flight, and if not already acquainted with the netst, lights boldly within twenty yards of perhaps three or four bird-catchers, on a spot which other wise it would not have taken the least notice of. Nay, it frequently happens, that if half a flock only are caught, the remaining half will immediately after terwards light in the nets and share the same fate; and should only one bird escape, that bird will suffer itself to be pulled at till it is caught such a fascinat ing power have the call-birds. While we are on this subject of the jerking of birds, we cannot omit mentioning, that the bird-catchers frequently lay considerable wagers whose call-bird can jerk the longest, as that determines the superiority. They place them opposite to cach other, by an inch of candle, and the bird who jerks the oftenest, before the candle is burnt out wins the wager. We have been informed, that their have been instances of a bird's giving a hundred and seventy jerks in a quarter of an hour; and we have known a linnet in such a trial, persevere in its emulation till it swooned from the perch, thus as Pliny says of the nightingale, victa morte finit sæpe vitam, spiritu prius deficiente quàm .cantu. Lib. x. c. 29. It may be also observed, that the moment they see a hawk, they communicate the alarm to each other by a plaintive note; nor will they then jerk or call though the wild birds are near. A bird acquainted with the nets, is by the bird-catchers termed a sharper, which they endeavour to drive away, as they can have no sport whilst it continues near them. It may be here observed, that birds when near each other, and in sight, seldom jerk or sing. They either fight, or use short and wheedling calls; the jerking of these call-birds, therefore, face to face, is a most extraordinary instance of contention for superiority in song. It may be also worthy of observation that the female of no species of birds ever sings; with birds it is the reverse of what occurs in human kind: among the feathered tribe, all the cares of life fall to the lot of the tender sex; theirs is the fatigue of incubation; and the principal share in nursing the helpless brood; to alleviate these fatigues, and to support her under them, nature hath given to the male the song, with all the little blandishments and soothing arts; these he fondly exerts (even after courtship) on some spray contiguous to the nest, during the time his mate is performing her parental duties. But that she should be silent, is also another wise provision of nature, for her song would discover her nest; as would a gaudiness of plumage, which for the same reason seems to have been denied her. To these we may add a few particulars that fell within our notice during our es quiries among the bird-catchers, such as, that they immediately kill the hens of every species of birds they take, being incapable of singing, as also being inferior in plumage: the pippets likewise are indis criminately destroyed, as the cock does not sing well; they sell the dead birds for threepence or fourpence a dozen. These small birds are so good, that we are surprised the luxury of the age glects so delicate an acquisition to the table. The modern Italians are fond of small birds, which they eat under the common name of Beccaficos; and the dear rate a Roman tragedian paid for one dish of singing birds is well known. Another particular we learned, in conversation with a London bird-catcher, was the vast price that is sometimes given for a single song bird, which had no learned to whistle tunes. The greatest sum we heard of was five guineas for a chaffinch that had a particular and f * Maxime tamen insignis est in hat merit, Clodii Æsopi tragici histrionis patina sexcertis H. S. taxata, in quo posuit aves cantu aliquo, cut ismano sermone, vocales. Plin lib. x. c. 51. The price of this expensive dish was about 68431.1 according to Arbuthnot's Tables. This seems to have been a wanton caprice, rather than a bute to epicurism. common : common note, under which it was intended to train others and we also heard of five pounds ten shillings, being given for a call-bird linnet. A third singular circumstance, which confirms an observation of Linnæus, is that the male chaffinches fly by themselves, and in the flight precede the females; but this is not peculiar to the chaffinches. When the titlarks are caught in the beginning of the season, it frequently happens, that forty are taken, and not one female among them; and probably the same would be observed with regard to other birds (as has been done with relation to the wheat-ear) if they were attended to. An experienced and intelligent birdcatcher informed us, that such birds as breed twice a year, generally have in their first brood a majority of males, and in their second of females, which may in part account for the above observation. We must not omit mention of the bullfinch though it does not properly come under the title of a singing-bird, or a bird of flight, as it does not often move farther than from hedge to hedge; yet, as the bird sells well on account of its learning to whistle tunes, and sometimes flies over the fields where the nets are laid; the bird-catchers have often a call-bird to ensnare it, though most of them can imitate It is rethe call with their mouths. markable with regard to this bird, that the female answers the purpose of a call bird as well as the male, which is not experienced in any other bird taken by the London bird-catchers. It may perhaps surprise, that under this article of singing-birds we have not mentioned the nightingale, which is not a bird of flight, in the sense the bird-catchers use this term. The nightingale, like the robin, wren, and many other singing birds only moves from hedge to hedge, and does not take the periodical flights in October and March. The persons who catch these birds, make use of small trap-nets without call-birds and are considered as inferior in dignity to other bird-catchers, who will not rank with them. The nightingale being the first of singing birds, we shall here insert a few particulars relating to it. Its arrival is expected by the trappers, in the neighbourhood of London, the first week in April; at the beginning none but cocks are taken, but in a few days the hens make their appearance, generally by themselves, though sometimes a few males come along with them. The latter are distinguished from the females not only by their superior size, but by a great swelling of their vent, which commences on the first arrival of the hens. They do not build till the middle of May, and generally chuse a quickset to make their nest in. If the nightingale is kept in a cage it often begins to sing about the latter end of November, and continues to sing more or less till June. A young canary bird, linnet, skylark, heard any or robin (who have never other bird) are said best to learn the note of a nightingale. They are caught in a net trap; the bottom of which is surrounded with an iron ring; the net itself is rather larger than a cabbage-net. When the trappers hear or see them, they strew some fresh mould under the place, and bait the trap with a meal-worm from the baker's shop. Ten or a dozen nightingales have been Barrington. caught thus in a day. §21. Experiments and Observations on the SINGING of BIRDS. From the Philosophical Transaction, Vol. Ixiii. As the experiments and observations I mean to lay before the Royal Society relate to the singing of birds, which is a subject that hath never before been scientifically treated of*, it may not be improper to prefix an explanation of some uncommon terms, which I shall be obliged to use as well as others which I have been under a necessity of coining. To chirp is the first sound which a young bird utters, as a cry for food, and is different in all nestlings, if accurately attended to; so that the hearer may distinguish of what species the birds are, though the nest may hang out of his sight and reach. This cry is, as might be expected, very weak and querulous; it is dropped entirely as the bird grows stronger, nor is * Kircher, indeed, in his Musurgia, bath given us some few passages in the song of the night. ingale, as well as the call of a quail and cuckow, which he hath engraved in musical characters. These instances, however, only prove that some birds have in their song, notes which correspond with the intervals of our common scale of the musical octave. afterwards afterwards intermixed with its song the chirp of a nightingale (for example) being hoarse and disagreeable. To this definition of the chirp, I must add, that it consists of a single sound, repeated at very short intervals, and that it is common to nestlings of both sexes. The call of a bird, is that sound which it is able to make when about a month old; it is in most instances (which I happen to recollect) a repetition of oneand the same note, is retained by the bird as long as it lives, and is common generally to both the cock and hen*. The next stage in the notes of a bird is termed by the bird-catchers, recording, which word is probably derived from a musical instrument, formerly used in England, called a recordert. This attempt in the nestling to sing, may be compared to the imperfect endeavour in a child to babble. I have known instances of birds beginning to record, when they were not a month old. This first essay does not seem to have the least rudiments of the future song; but as the bird grows older and stronger, one may begin to perceive what the nestling is aiming at. Whilst the scholar is thus endeavour ing to form his song, when he is once sure of a passage, he commonly raises his tone, which he drops again, when he is not equal to what he is attempting; just as a singer raises his voice, when he not only recollects certain parts of a tune with precision, but knows that he can execute them. What the nestling is not thus thoroughly master of, he hurries over, lowering his his tone as if he did not wish to be heard and could not yet satisfy himself. I have never happened to meet with a passage in any writer, which seems to relate to this stage of singing in a bird, *For want of terms to distinguish the notes of birds, Belon applies the verb chantent, or sing, to the goose and crane, as well as the nightingale. "Plusieurs oiseaux chantent la nuit, comme est Poye, la rue, & le rossignol." Belon's Hist. of Birds, p. 50 It seems to have been a species of flute, and was probably used to teach young birds to pipe tunes Lord Bacon describes this instrument to have been strait, to have had a lesser and greater bore both above and below, to have required very little breath from the blower, and to have had what he calls a sipple or stopper. See his second Century of experiments. except, perhaps, in the following lines of Statius: "Nunc volucrum novi Stat. Sylv. L. IV. Ecl. 5. A young bird commonly continues to record for ten or cleven months, when he is able to execute every part of his song, which afterwards continues fixed, and is scarcely ever altered. When the bird is thus become perfect in bis lesson he is said to sing his song round, or in all its varieties of passages, which he connects together and executes without a pause. I would therefore define a bird's songs be a succession of three or more ditierent notes which are continued without interruption during the same interval with a musical bar of four crotchets in an adagio movement, or whilst a pendulum swings four seconds. By the first requisite in this definition, I mean to exclude the call of a cuckow, or clucking of a heng, as they consist of only two notes whilst the short bursts of singing birds, contending with each other (called jerks by the bird-catchers) are equally distinguished from what I term song, by their not continuing for four seconds. As the notes of a cuckow and hen, therefore, though they exceed what I have defined the call of a bird to be, do not amount to its song, I will, for this reason, take the liberty of terming such a succession of two notes as we hear in these birds, the varied call. Having thus settled the meaning of certain words which I shall be obliged to make use of, I shall now proceed to state some general principles with regard to the singing of birds, which seem to result from the experiments I have been making for several years, and under a great variety of circumstances. Notes in birds are no more innate, than language is in man, and depend entirely upon the master under which they are bred, as far as their organs will enable them to imitate the sounds which they have frequent opportunities of hearing. The bird called a Twite by the bird-catchers, commonly flies in company with linnets, yet these two species of birds never learn each other's notes, which always continue totally different. The common hen, when she lays, repeats the same note, very often, and concludes with the sixth above, which she holds for a longer time. Most Most of the experiments I have made on this subject have been tried with cock linnets, which were fledged and nearly able to leave their nest, on account not only of this bird's docility, and great of imitation, but because the cock powers is easily distinguished from the hen at that early period, by the superior whiteness in the wing.* In many other sorts of singing birds the male is not at the age of three weeks so certainly known from the female; and if the pupil turns out to be a hen, "ibi omnis "Effusus labor." The Greek poets made a songster of the whatever animal that may be, and it is remarkable that they observed the female was incapable of singing as well as hen birds: Είτ' εισιν οι τεσλιγες εκ ευδαίμονες Comicorum Græcorum Sententiæ, I have indeed known an instance or two of a hen's making out something like the song of her species: but these are as rare as the common hen's being heard to crow. I rather suspect also, that those parrots, magpies, &c. which either do not speak at all, or very little, are hens of those kinds. I have educated nestling linnets under the three best singing larks, the skylark, woodlark, and titlark, every one of which instead of the linnet's song, adhered entirely to that of their respective instructors. When the note of the titlark-linnett was thoroughly fixed, I hung the bird in a room with two common linnets, for a quarter of a year, which were full in song: the titlark-linnet, however, did not borrow any passages from the linnet's song, but adhered stedfastly to that of the titlark. I had some curiosity to find out whether an European nestling would equally learn the note of an African bird; I therefore educated a young linnet under *The white reaches almost to the shaft of the quill feathers and in the hen does not exceed more than half of that space; it is also of a brighter hue. + I thus call a bird which sings notes he would not have learned in a wild state, thus by a skylark-linnet I mean a linnet with a sky-lark song; a nightingale-robin, a robin with the nightingale song, &c, a vengolina", which imitated its African. This vengolina-linnet was absolutely that all To be certain therefore that a nestling I must own that I am not equal myself, nor can I procure any person to take the trouble of breeding up a bird of this age, as the odds against its being reared are almost infinite. The warmth indeed of incubation may be, in some measure, supplied by cotton and fires; but these delicate animals require, in this state, being fed almost perpetually, whilst the nourishment they receive should not only be prepared with great attention, but given very small portions at a time. in Though I must admit, therefore, that I have never reared myself a bird of so tender an age, yet I have happened to see both a linnet and a goldfinch which were taken from their nests when only two or three days old. The first of these belonged to Mr. Matthews, an apothecary at Kensington, *This bird seems not to have been described by any of the ornithologists; it is of the finch tribe, and about the same size with our aberdavine (or fiskin). The colours are grey and white, and the cock hath a bright yellow spot upon the rump It is a very familiar bird, and sings better than any of those which are not European, except the American mocking bird. An instance bath lately happened, in an aviary at Hampstead, of a vengolina's breeding with a canary bird. which |