Excursionsbuch zum Studium der Vögelstimmen

Abstract

THIS is the fifth edition of an excellent manual of the songs and other notes of birds, suitable for carryingin the pocket during walks and excursions. As a matter of fact, it is better for the learner to find out for himself what bird it is to the voice of which he is listening, for in the process, even if it be a long one, he will learn a good deal about the bird and its habits. But some learners are less gifted than others with a capacity for listening carefully, and have little or no musical ear, and a book like this may be of good service to these. Dr. Voigt's method is a very sensible one; he makes no great use of musical notation, but has invented a notation of his own which is likely to be much more useful to the ordinary observer. By a series of dots and dashes, inclining or curving up or down if necessary, he contrives to give a very fair idea of the character of the notes he wishes to represent, and also of their tendency to rise and fall. In some cases, e.g. in that of the swallow, he does not make use of either kind of notation, simply because neither would be any real help. His descriptions of the songs seem remarkably accurate. We have tested them in the case of many of the small warblers, which are among the most difficult to describe, and have invariably found them excellent, and the tendency of particular individuals of a species to vary the utterance is also duly noted. Thus of the marsh warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), Dr. Voigt says that it has troubled him more in the way of variation than any other species. In writing of this species he seems to have omitted the peculiar alarm-note uttered when an intruder is near the nest, but as a rule something is said of alarm-and call-notes. On the whole, we consider this book the most useful practical manual we have met.

Excursionsbuch zum Studium der Vögelstimmen.

By Prof. Voigt. Pp. 326. (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, n.d.) Price 3 marks.