SONGS OF THE BIRDS

Hokitika Guardian, 5 October 1931, Page 3

SONGS OF THE BIRDS

D() M l NlO N’S FE ATHE RED MUSICIANS. CHORUSES ON KAPITI. "There are two striking differences ill the song of birds,” said Mr Johannes C. Andersen in an interesting address at the Rotary Club luncheon at Wellington. “One is the wild wood Song, and goes on indetenninedly without form or phrase, and never repeats itself ; the other is the art song, which cons sts of definite and oft-repeated themes. Most of the English birds have the wild wood song, the striking exception, perhaps-. being the blackbird, which is strongly imbued with art song. A* German named Stadler was so impressed with the themes /used by the blackbird that he wrote a book about them. The thrush, one poet "says, sings his song twice over, but such is not the .case. The thrush’s song is never the same, and certainly he does not repeat a phrase.

“New Zealand birds, for the most part, have the- art song, and place their notes in order like a musician. Not only that, but they have repertoires, the same as human beings, .’When they ising art songs they use practically |the same musical notation as we do. That is not at all impossible or illogical, as probably we sang originally as the wild birds did, and so arrived at some form of notation. Like us, the birds use tones and semi-tones, and sometimes third and quarter-tones such as occurred ill the very old Maori music. “A German musician, Herr Li min'r, who lived in Nelson, used to take his pupils into the bush to hear the native birds .siug ill order to illustrate at firsthand that the birds had definite motifs in their songs which could he taken down and made into a fine composition. 1 have had it recbi'ded that a bird may recognise and repeat a theme sung by another bird, and that they may sing it together correctly and all in tune. This means that the birds know their songs in quite an intelligent way. Not only to the birds sing set phrases, but they can execute variations on them by a change of accent and tempo, and can all sing the one theme together.”

Mr Andersen illustrated his interesting theory by reference to the brown creeper, a South Island bird, which Hies about in groups of from five to twentylive. This bird sings a fairly long song, in which others of the group join. They

have a leader, and when he happens to commence the phrase in a different way, they all start that way, placing the •iccent exactly as the leader has done, sometimes on the first, and sometimes on the thii'"' beat.

The grey warbler is found in both islands, always in pairs, added Mr Andersen, but it sings a different song in every part of New Zealand. I here are two species of the grey warbler. r l his was not determined for some time, but could have been ascertained if the investigators had known their songs.

■‘One of the greatest joys of my life,” Mr Andersen sai"cl, “is to hear the birds sing their morning chorus on Kaptti Island '(which is a bird sanctuary). The tuis and the bell-birds take pleasure in the very early morning in swelling thenthroats in a great chorus. The tui is a clever mimic. Ii he would always sing h : s best there is not a bird on the face of the globe to touch hum but with his clear, pure notes he will introduce those mocking, harsh ones. The records we have heard of the English nightingale are rubbish alongside the lovely song ot the tui. He has a range of four octaves, and usually sings in soprano register, but can soar two octaves above it. Ihe tui can occasionally be heard singing duets with bellbirds, aiiothei ait stu songster to he heard to advantage up the Wanganui River. There 1 have h ard the tui being a theme, and the bdlbrii complete it very cleverly, the tui biinging in his harsh low notes as bass to the bellb'ml’s song. The beJlbird sings definite themes and can elaborate them with variations. The singing is usually done by the females. Birds, as 11 rule, have no emotional feeling in their song, but when the male beJlbird sings there is nothing like his voice for feeling.”