Stephen E Bacher wrote:

>Second, re birdsong: Whether it is instinctive or a product of conscious
>avian thought (a possibility to be taken much more seriously with recent
>research in mind), it still may not be "music" if its intent is to
>communicate a message.

I don't see why it's not possible for it to be both, but I assume Stephen
means it may not be "music" to our ears rather than to those of the avian
recipient of the message.

I was considering the conscious thought angle this morning while listening
to a starling.  I'm unaware of the migratory habits of starlings or of
their varieties, but those in this neck of the woods seem to have a small
built-in processor which runs a short program in which pitch, duration and
volume are totally random.  It seems quite remarkable that a small bird can
produce a long stream of notes which bear no relationship to its previous
utterances.  The habit seems to be to stand in an elevated position and let
rip - the inescapable conclusion is that the bird is imparting a message it
wants as many as possible of its fellows to hear.  For all I know, it's an
advertisement for a special on the Schoenberg string quartets.

Somebody in another post wanted to know David Attenborough's whereabouts.
He's repeating his The Life of Birds on local TV.

Richard Pennycuick
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