PIGEON WHISTLERS.

Shannon News, 9 December 1924, Page 2

PIGEON WHISTLERS.

HOW SILENT BIRDS MAKE MUSIC The Chinese lover of birds (says Herbert Beardsley* writing in the Nature Magazine, Washington) does not permanently confine his pet in its prison cage, but he takes it out with him on his walks, carrying it on a stick, to which one of its feet,is fastended by means of a thread, long enough to allow it ample freedom ot motion. Where the shade of some stately tree bids him welcome, he makes a halt and permits the bird to perch and /swing on a supple twig, watching it-even hour after hour with interest and appreciation. One of their most curious expressions of emotional life is the application of whistles to pigeons (he continues). These whistles are very light, and are attached to the tails otf the pigeons by means of fine copper wire so that when the birds fly the wind blowing through the whistles sets them vibrating and produces an open, air concert. On a calm day it is possible to enjoy this aerial music while, sitting in one’s room. The instruments carried by each bird of a flock of pigeons are all, tuned differently.

The whistles are manufactured with " great cleverness and ingenuity in Pekin. There are two distinct types, those consisting of bamboo tubes placed side by side, and a type based o'u the principle of tubes attached to a gourd body or windchest. They are lacquered in yellow- brown, red, and black to protect the material from the destructive influences of the atmosphere. The tube whistles have either two, three, or five tubes. The gourd whistles are furnished with a mouthpiece and small apertures, a whistle with one mouthpiece and ten and even thirteen. These varieties a're , distinguished by different names; thus a whistle with one mouthpiece and ten tubes is called “the eleven-eyed - one.” The materials used in the construction of the whistles are small gourds that serve for the bodies, and = several kinds of bamboo for the large and small tubes. The smallest whistles are the most difficult to produce, as the work requires time and skill. '