. Birds . alities of voice, from the mono-tonous scream of the eagle to the rich and variedmodulations of the nightingale. Not that all birds aremusical. On the contrary, while each species has anote peculiar to itself, it is only to certain tribes thatthe power of melody is given. A voice capable of rapidinflexions, and full of harmony, has not been grantedto the rapacious tyrants of the air, to the birds thatplay and dive among the billows of the ocean, to thewild swan and the host of water birds, that make themarsh or the dark morass their home, nor yet to thefeathered creatures which yield
. Birds . alities of voice, from the mono-tonous scream of the eagle to the rich and variedmodulations of the nightingale. Not that all birds aremusical. On the contrary, while each species has anote peculiar to itself, it is only to certain tribes thatthe power of melody is given. A voice capable of rapidinflexions, and full of harmony, has not been grantedto the rapacious tyrants of the air, to the birds thatplay and dive among the billows of the ocean, to thewild swan and the host of water birds, that make themarsh or the dark morass their home, nor yet to thefeathered creatures which yield food to man. It is toa multitude of smaller birds, the tenants of woodlandsand groves, that we must listen, if we would hear athousand voices, swelling the hymn of praise in mingledharmony. All, however, modify the voice by the will VARIETY OF TONES. 101 of Him who formed them, and has caused them toutter such sounds, and speak such a language, as arerequired by the circumstances in which they are Goldfinches, The cawing of the rook, the croaking of the raven, thecooing of the dove, as well as the waiblings of thevarious birds of song, are all the results of the wisdomthat never errs, and the benevolence which is inex-haustible. 102 VARIETY OF TONES. This fact is apparent when we consider, that amongbirds there is no confusion of sound; every featheredwarbler possesses its own music, a series of notes, anda style of modulation, peculiar to itself. And it will,therefore, prove interesting to investigate the structureof the apparatus by which sounds and intonations, sodissimilar, are produced. In doing so, the organ ofvoice will be found extremely simple, so much so indeed,that we might be surprised at the results of such a con-trivance, were it not for various facts with which weare acquainted. The organ of the human voice, forinstance, though simple in the extreme, produces the mostextraordinary variety and richness of tones by slightvariations of muscular action, app
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