. British birds. Birds. OTES. THE MEANING OF BIRDS' SONGS. In the September number of British Birds (p. 121) Mr. Kirkman disagrees with Dr. Lowe's explanation of bird-song. We have always been told that all songs of birds are simply the expression of sexual emotion. This is the explanation usually accepted. While not holding this opinion myself I cannot for a moment accept Mr. Kirkman's alternative that the bird " sings to please ; So far as I have ever observed the bird has had no alternative. I have been studying the subject for some years, and am strongly of opinion that s
. British birds. Birds. OTES. THE MEANING OF BIRDS' SONGS. In the September number of British Birds (p. 121) Mr. Kirkman disagrees with Dr. Lowe's explanation of bird-song. We have always been told that all songs of birds are simply the expression of sexual emotion. This is the explanation usually accepted. While not holding this opinion myself I cannot for a moment accept Mr. Kirkman's alternative that the bird " sings to please ; So far as I have ever observed the bird has had no alternative. I have been studying the subject for some years, and am strongly of opinion that song is always the ebullition of superfluous energy, and has no direct connection with sexual matters. The case of the House-Sparrow may be taken as an example. [For some reason this species Avas not mentioned either by the Messrs. Alexander in their paper on "Song-Periods" in British Birds (Vol. I., pp. 367-372), nor by Mr. Gyngell in his contribution on the same subject to the Naturalist (1908, p. 181).] The bird sings all through the year with the exception of the period of rearing the young; the season of moult; certain damp, dark, or foggy days in winter; and when a heavy fall of snow makes the task of securing food so arduous that there is no energy left for song. Indeed, in all birds, the song-period is coincident with a time of plenty. In November, when the Sparrow is in full song, the males are certainly incapable of any sexual feelings if the physiology of the bird is to be any index. As everyone who has dissected a Sparrow will remember, the essential organs in spring are probably not less than fifty times bigger than they are in a bird examined in mid-winter. The best way to make a bird sing is to adopt the methods that are used by bird-fanciers all over the world. Feed it well, keep it in good health, and close all outlets for its energy except the one of song. Even yet, birds are subjected to the atrocious process of blinding, for it is known that they si
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