THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2167, 5 September 1895, Page 49

THE NATURALIST.

Birds' Sonffs. • Moafcl>frds, like the nightingale, only sing daring the pairing season, but there are exceptions. The starling, the bullfinch, and the canary, for example, will sing throughout the year, except when dejected by moulting. There can "be no doubt that when mating the male bird eiDga his very beat to attract the affections of the females, and that the hens select the most accomplished licgers. In a cage of canaries, the liveliest femala always pairs with the one who siDga the beat ; and a female chaffinch, when wild, will choose out of 100 males the mate whose BOBg ia most pleasing to her. The reason why one bird sings better than another is to be found in the different size and strength of the larnyx, and as this organ Is ranch less fully developed in the females than in the males, the former rarely sing. The larnyx of the nightingale is of unusual eiz? and strength, hence its long, claar, and powerful song. In man, the vocal chords are placed in the larynx itself, whereas in birds the sound is produced at the syrinx, or lower extremity of the windpipe, the modulations being caused by the contraction and extension of the larynx. Many attempts have been made to express in words or in mutical characters the songs of birds, but there are great difficulties in the way. The followirg is the beat record of the sor>g of the nightiDgale that has ever been made. To the reader who ie familiar with Philomel's most entrancing strains, the strange jumble of letters will not be without interest. The sounds should be tittered in something between a whisper and a whistle : —

Tiou, ticu, tka, tiou-Spe, tioa, fqua-Ti6, t»6. t6, ti6, tJ6, tio, tix— Coutio, coutio, Ooabio, coutlo — Squo, fqo6, fquo, tqu6 — Tzu, tzo, fzu, (zu, tzo, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzu, tzi — Oorror, tiou, squa, pipiqui — Zozt zoz .zozozcz z. z zcxo, zlrrhading I—Tsißsisi,1 — Tsißsisi, tsisßißieiBi6i«siß— Dz)ire, dzorre, dz.irre, dzorre, hi— Tzatu, tzxtu, (Zitu, tzatu, tzatu, tzitu, tzatu, dzi— Dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo, dlo — Qaio, tr rrrrrrrr i!z— Lu, lv, la, la, ly, ly, ly,ly, liv, lie, lie 1 , lie-Quio, didl li lulylie— Hagarr, gurr qnipio ! — Coui, coui, coui, coni, gui, rjui, gui, gal, gui, gui, gui— Gjll, goll, goll, gol), guia badadoi — Conigui, horr, ha diadia dill si I—Hezfzezezfz1 — Hezfzezezfz zf z-zezeztz-zeze zezeze couur ho dze hoi— Qaia, quia, quia, quia, qaia, qaia, quia, qaia, ti— Ki, ki, ki, i\ jo, io. ioioloio Xi — Lv ly li le lai la leu 10, didl i-> qtfta — Ktg&igaigaigaigaigaigai gala gaigaigai couior dzio dzto pi.

Alive Though Dissected — Is there any animal whose heart will beat for one or two days after being removed from •the body 1 This has been proved to be so with the tortoise and the frog. A headless tortoise has been observed to walk 200 yds 24 hours after decapitation, and it has been proved that the heart when removed from the body will, if carefully suspended in a mpi&t chamber, continue to beat for one, two, or even three days. The frog's heart will continue to beat after its removal. Out out the heart, and the animal which has been bo mutilated will not the less continue to live, walk, and jump. Out it across just below the line which maiks the junction of the ventricle with the two auricles ; the upper half continues to beat, but the lower half is paralysed. Divide the upper half into two, And each quarter still continues to beat.