During the late autumn days, when the summer chorus has dispersed, and
only a few winter soloists remain to cheer us, one is more than ever
impressed by the wonderful carrying power of bird notes. Many of these
notes are not at all loud; and yet we hear them very distinctly at a
comparatively long distance from their source.
The ear that is trained to listen will distinguish a bird's note above
a great variety of loud and distracting noises. This is due, not to the
loudness of the note, but to the quality of its tone.
We all know by experience, though few of us, alas, profit by it that
when we wish to make ourselves heard, it is not always necessary to
raise our voices, but only to use a different quality of tone.
Thus, some singers, when you hear them in a small room, seem to
completely fill it with sound, while if they sing in a large hall, they
can scarcely be heard at all beyond a certain distance. Their voices
lack carrying power, and their notes apparently escape almost directly
after leaving their mouths.
It is this carrying quality, which can be cultivated to a large extent
in the human voice, that we find in bird notes. They produce their
notes in a perfectly natural way. They do not, like us, have to be
trained and taught to sing naturally.
I believe that nearly every human voice has some sweet or agreeable
quality in it. If the owner would but use that part, instead of
inflicting the harsh or strident or shrill part upon the unfortunate
listener, what a musical world we should live in! No discordant voices!
Think of it!
To go back to the birds. Here is an example of the penetrating quality
of tone they possess. One morning I was busily engaged in the back part
of the house, when my ear caught the sound of a bird's note, and I
determined to follow it up.
It led me to the front part of the house, out of the front door, down
the walk, across the street, and into a neighbor's yard where I found
my "caller," a white-breasted nut-hatch, carefully searching the bark
of a tall soft maple. His note did not sound particularly loud when I
stood there near him. Yet I had heard it with perfect distinctness in
the rear of the house.
What a penetrating quality there is in the high, faint "skreeking" of
the brown creeper, and in the metallic "pip" of the hairy woodpecker.
The birds could teach us many a lesson on "voice production," if we
would but listen to them.
The person who has never learned to listen, misses much of the beauty
of life. For him "that hath ears to hear," when he goes abroad, the air
is full of subtle music. Not merely the music of the birds, but other
voices of nature as well; the wind in the trees, the rustle of leaves.
The unthinking person walks along the street, seeing nothing, hearing
nothing. What does he miss? Many things. He misses yon tall tree, which
suggests such strength, such enduring majesty. He misses the beautiful
leaf that lies in his path, a marvel of exquisitely blended coloring.
He misses the delicate tracery of slender twigs and branches, with
their background of blue sky or gray cloud. He misses the voices of
his feathered friends who would gladly cheer him on his way. If he
thinks of nature at all, he is apt to think her beauties have departed
with the summer. Not so. If you love nature, she will never withhold
some part of her beauty from you, no matter how cold or windy or rainy
the day may be. If you see no beauty it is not because it is entirely
lacking, but because you are blind to it.
The love of nature is a great gift, a gift that is within the reach of
all of us. Let us, then, cultivate this gift, and we shall find beauty
and harmony and peace, such as we never dreamed of before. Our lives
will become better and nobler for the contact with nature, and we shall
be brought into a closer understanding of nature's God.