The Song of the Bird鸟之歌

Humans speak when they are happy and speak when they are sad. They speakwhen they are angry and they speak when they see a beautiful thing. They try tospeak even when they have nothing to say. Well， songbirds1 are the same.

They sing to tell their neighbors and strangers where their home is. Or theymay sing to warn2 other birds that an enemy3 is near. During the mating4 season，male birds sing with a great feeling. That’s because they want female birds tolike them.

The sparrow， the parrot， the thrush， the koel and even the crows aresongbirds. Nearly half the birds in the world are songbirds. There are about 4，000kinds of songbirds， and they are of many families. Songbirds can sing because theyhave a great and powerful5 vocal organ6， and it is called the syrinx7.

Ornithologists8 say they may practice their songs in some kind of schools，and there are elders teaching them along.

From the way they sing， we may think that these songbirds are bright andbeautiful. But， no， these birds are often small， dark-colored animals. And they livea lonely life in forests or on open grassland.

In fact， male birds with beautiful feathers do not sing; their bright feathers areso beautiful that the female birds like them， or to give a clear signal to other birds.Also， songbirds’dark feathers help them hide from their enemies.

The birdsongs are not always pleasing9， too. An American studied the redeyedvireo. The bird made the same sound 22，197 times in one day！ As the wellknownIndian ornithologist Dr. Salim Ali has said， hearing the musical10 sound ofthe koel can also be hard on the ears！

人类高兴的时候会说话，难过的时候也会说话；生气时会说话，看到美好的事物时也会说话；甚至无话可说时，也会试着说话。鸣禽亦是如此。

它们唱歌是为了告诉那些邻居和陌生同类，哪儿是它们的家。或者，它们会唱歌以警告其他鸟类，敌人就在附近。在交配的季节，雄鸟会深情地鸣叫，因为它们想让雌鸟喜欢它们。

麻雀、鹦鹉、画眉、噪鹃，甚至乌鸦，都属于鸣禽。世界上将近一半的鸟类都是鸣禽。全世界大约有4000 种鸣禽，它们被归为不同的科。鸣禽之所以能唱歌，是因为它们有一个极好且功能强大的发声器官，叫做鸣管。

鸟类学家称，它们可能是在某所学校里学习过，而且还有长辈指导练习唱歌。

从它们唱歌的方式来看，我们可能会认为这些鸣禽的外表鲜艳而美丽。然而并不是，这些鸟通常是体型小巧，颜色单调的动物。它们在森林里或开阔的草原上独自生活。

事实上，羽毛艳丽的雄鸟是不会唱歌的；它们鲜艳的羽毛美得让雌鸟都喜欢，或者是向其他鸟类发出明确的信号。同样，鸣禽的深色羽毛能帮助它们躲避敌人。

鸟儿的歌声也不总是令人愉快的。一位美国人研究了红眼绿鹃。这种鸟在一天内发出22197 次同样的声音！正如著名的印度鸟类学家萨利姆·阿里博士所说，就算听到噪鹃的悦耳叫声也会让耳朵难受！

（英语原文选自：pitara.com）