Charles Adolphus Witchell

“ My present purpose is to offer some remarks on the question whether a love-flight is necessary to the Chaffinch. By "love-flight" I do not mean the common straight Cuckoo-like flight of the male when he is leading a female from tree to tree, and flying with a constant and even succession of wing-beats; but I mean the swooping flight performed by both birds together, in which they are very near each other, if not actually in contact. ”

“ The Common Snake, even when the sexes unite, utters no audible vocal sound, and, when angry with another of its species, it only shakes or rattles its tail a little; and the Viper seems to be equally silent. Both of these animals make much more noise by their rustling through herbage than by their vocal efforts, except on the special occasion of combat. I have seen the Common Snake feed, say, a thousand times, and never heard a hiss from it then, though sometimes there would be a slight expulsion of air, causing a sound like a little coughing, while a Newt or fish was being swallowed. ”

“ If a bird's mimicry is unconscious, then all its other actions may be unconscious, and the creature an automaton, which is absurd, except on the hypothesis that man also is one. But we must not hastily assume that similarity of action indicates mimicry; it may suggest inheritance as the governing factor. Take the case of the hissing of nesting birds. The hissing of these birds seems generally to be the ultimate expression of hate and rage, [2] and to have no intended reference or similarity to that great enemy of the nest—the snake ”

“ If an autumn singer makes much use of its call-note, we may infer that the song has an exotic origin, but when the call is not used (as in the Starling) it is difficult to see why we should not credit the singer with a sense of pleasure in his surroundings expressed in song; and this is the more reasonable since so many birds have a strong local attachment. ”

“ Newton's limitation of mimicry to the status of unconscious resemblance (cf. Zool. 1899, p. 529) is in accord with that prevailing tone of thought which denies to the lower animals the power of abstract reasoning so constantly evident in man. I hope that Mr. Distant will not conclude his highly interesting treatment of the mimetic faculty without some reference to vocal mimicry, [1] for this demonstrates (as it would seem, beyond dispute) the occurrence of a desire on the part of certain animals to do something that another animal is doing or has done, solely for the purpose of mimicking it. ”

“ Some years ago, a friend who had bred many hybrid Finches of different kinds told me that hybrids could not be obtained from the Chaffinch, because that bird would not breed in confinement, a flight being necessary for the union of the sexes. This information, and the frequent exhibition of a swooping flight by a pair of Chaffinches, led me to conclude that the swooping flight might be really necessary to the breeding of the Chaffinch ”

“ Musicians have distinguished several ranges of tone in human voices, and, with the object of rendering vocalization even and harmonious, teachers of singing have always laboured to smooth out these breaks or cracks in the voice. ”

“ It is suggestive of what would be heard if one of our rich basses concluded every phrase by jodelling hysterically, like a Swiss. The same incident is very noticeable in the Mistle Thrush, whose very brief snatches of full-toned song (consisting of from two to four or five notes) are followed by a few high discordant sounds. In the Common Thrush this break hardly ever occurs as distinctly as in the Blackbird; but, whereas in the Blackbird the sounds are never given except after the full notes, in the Thrush they may constitute the entirety of several successive phrases ”

“ The Thrush does not habitually turn its breast toward an observer, and in this case the reason for the behaviour of the bird hardly needs arguing. I was certainly not more than twelve feet from it.
With regard to physical mimicry generally, I would suggest (at the risk of ridicule) that there may be some occult influence causing animals to resemble things that they like, be those things mates or surrounding substances. ”

“ The Parrot is a common instance; but the Starling is, I think, a better one, since the studies of the latter bird are purely voluntary, and have no possible reference to the furnishing of a supply of food by a human owner. ”

“ For Snakes do not hiss, as birds sing, for amusement or occupation. Probably they never hiss at all, except in combat. This is at least true of the Common Snake (natrix) , and the Viper (berus) , both of which I have had (numbers of them) in captivity. ”

“ The middle of the song consists of a rattling repetition of the same character as the full rattle I have just described. The last syllables, "wheatear," have always seemed to me to be very interesting, as relating the song of the Chaffinch to those of the Greenfinch and Lesser Bedpoll. The "wheat" is greatly varied in loudness, and is very often wholly absent, or its place is occupied by a sound like "tissi." ”

“ A man who went to a colony early in life, and had control of many people of colour, and who would not be likely to be particular, afterwards married an exceedingly good-looking and quite strong Englishwoman. The first child, a son, was very like a black in all except colour, and yet he resembled his father. ”

“ THE AUTUMN SONG OF BIRDS.
By Charles A. Witchell.
The songs of birds are worth investigating; but before progress can be made in the knowledge of the why and wherefore of these songs, we must ascertain how and when they occur. The last particular is especially important. It is very well to attribute the songs of birds to an erotic origin; but that will hardly account for the Robin and Starling recommencing in July or the first few days of August. ”

“ The Viviparous Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) , wild or tame, has a similar appreciation of stillness, and of the advantage of rapid movement in retreat; and this reptile, like the fish, will refrain from breathing in order to escape detection. I have had perhaps hundreds of these reptiles in captivity, and have often crept up to them while they basked on their native banks, and watched their movements. The movement of the lungs in breathing is very apparent at the shoulders. ”

“ I do not know any other bird with this habit. In May the chiming can be heard all day. I am sending a copy of my notes to the Editor, and will here only summarize them.
The Willow Wrens sang every day but one in June, the 27th, which was wet and cold. From three to five or six were heard at the same time on every fine warm morning. On cold mornings only one or two could be heard.
The evening song (after seven) was abandoned early in July. July 13th was cold, and no Willow Wren sang; 14th, two, occasionally. From 15th to 24th two could generally be heard in the morning; sometimes one. ”

“ Aplin, while not in the least minding my attempting to correct him, found it impossible to believe that I had supposed him ignorant of the singing of the Robin and Starling early in August. But that is just what an ornithologist of repute might overlook. To take a similar instance: How many generations have observed the Swift! ”

“ I am aware that the sexual passion is not credited with this effect, but we know that breeders of prize poultry are careful to keep their male birds from running with birds not of the same variety, because if they do they will "throw" feathers like those of their companions. ”

“ On May 12th a pair of Chaffinches descended together from the top of an oak, swerved up again nearly to the full height of the tree (forty feet) and descended as before, uttering the callnote all the while. ”

“ This may be due to the fact that I have always been "an early bird"; while other observers with less exacting avocations may be more of midday or evening observers. When articled and subsequently in a practice at Stroud, where most of my observations were made, I never loafed after birds during office hours, but was out on nearly half the fine mornings from 6 or 6.30 till 9 o'clock a.m.
In a paper on the autumn song of birds (Zool. 1894, p. 410) Mr. ”