. The naturalist in La Plata. which may be heard distinctly twomiles away. As a rule, the notes are loud ringingcalls ; and in many species the cry, rapidly reiterated,resembles a peal of laughter. With scarcely anexception, they possess no set song; but in mostspecies that live always in pairs there are loud,vehement, gratulatory notes uttered by the twobirds in concert when they meet after a briefseparation. This habit they possess in commonwith birds of other families, as, for instance, thetyrants ; but, in some creepers, out of this confusedoutburst of joyous sound has been developed amusi
. The naturalist in La Plata. which may be heard distinctly twomiles away. As a rule, the notes are loud ringingcalls ; and in many species the cry, rapidly reiterated,resembles a peal of laughter. With scarcely anexception, they possess no set song; but in mostspecies that live always in pairs there are loud,vehement, gratulatory notes uttered by the twobirds in concert when they meet after a briefseparation. This habit they possess in commonwith birds of other families, as, for instance, thetyrants ; but, in some creepers, out of this confusedoutburst of joyous sound has been developed amusical performance very curious, and perhapsunique among birds. On meeting, the male andfemale, standing close together and facing eachother, utter their clear ringing concert, one emittingloud single measured notes, while the notes of itsfellow are rapid, rhythmical triplets; their voiceshave a joyous character, and seem to accord, thusproducing a kind of harmony. This manner otSinging is perbaps most perfect in the oven-bird,. Pvejjbird ancj Oven. The Woodhewer Family. 257 Furnarius, and it is very curious that the youngbirds, when only partially fledged, are constantlyheard in the nest or oven apparently practisingthese duets in the intervals when the parents areabsent; single measured notes, triplets, and long con-cluding trills are all repeated with wonderful fidelity,although these notes are in character utterly unlikethe hunger cry, which is like that of other cannot help thinking that this fact of the youngbirds beginning to sing like the adults, while stillconfined in their dark cradle, is one of very con-siderable significance, especially when we considerthe singular character of the performance; andthat it might even be found to throw some light onthe obscure question of the comparative antiquity ofthe different and widely separated Dendrocolaptinegroups. It is a doctrine in evolutionary sciencethat the early maturing of instincts in the youngindicates a hi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1922
