On the voice of birds / [Philip Bury Duncan].

  • Philip Bury Duncan
Date:
Between 1830 and 1839?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the voice of birds / [Philip Bury Duncan]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    44/52 page 40
    u Pour’d out profusely, silent. Join’d to these, 44 Innum’rous songsters, in the fresh’ning shade 44 Of new-sprung leaves, their modulations mix 44 Mellifluous. The jay, the rook, the daw, 44 And each harsh pipe discordant heard alone, 44 Aid the full concert; while the stock-dove breathes 44 A melancholy murmur through the whole. 44 ’Tis love creates their melody, and all 44 This waste of music is the voice of love.’* From the Journal of a Naturalist. 44 The object of the song of birds is not agreed 44 upon by ornithologists, and we will not now think 44 of it, but merely in passing, note how singularly 44 timed is the song of the robin. The blackbird 44 and the thrush, in mild seasons, will sing occa- 44 sionally throughout the winter : hut the robin, 44 after having been absent all the summer, returns 44 to us late in autumn, and then commences its 44 song, when most of our feathered choristers are 44 silent. An apparent contention in harmony en- 44 sues amongst them : at length the rivals approach, 44 menace, and fight with a seeming vexation at each 44 other’s prowess. The song of no one bird is per- 44 haps observed with more attention, and remem- 44 bered better, than the autumnal, and at times me- 44 lancholy sounding, farewell of the robin.” From the same. 44 From various little scraps of intelligence scat- 44 tered through the sacred and ancient writings, it 44 appears certain, as it was reasonable to conclude, 44 that the notes now used by birds, and the voices
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3