Abstract
The development of bird song has been studied in several passerine species by rearing birds in acoustic isolation (for example, Thorpe, 1961; Sauer, 1954; Messmer and Messmer, 1956). The results of these experiments vary with the species used. The development of normal vocalization without any external source of reference implies that there is an internal and inherited source of reference. There may be an inherited mechanism in the central nervous system which is responsible for “patterned” vocal motor output without any sensory feedback. Or the central nervous system may have an inherited mechanism to recognize normal vocalization as it is registered by the ear or by the pattern of proprioceptive or other nonauditory feedback. The isolation experiment alone does not discriminate between these possibilities. It is the purpose of the present work to investigate the role of audition in the development of song, using audiospectrographic analyses of the sound.
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