The winged performer varies in size but 30 mm from beak to tail is common. The whistle consists of a miniature organ pipe containing a close-fitting piston which can be moved up and down to give a range of notes of over an octave. The bird's beak movements are always connected to the cam controlling the air supply to the whistle: in this way the sound and beak movements are automatically synchronized. The final cam determines the point at which the song ends, the bird folds away, the lid drops and the motor stops. In some movements the flapping of the bird's wings and its ability to turn its head are also cam-controlled, in others not. One cam controls the note produced by the whistle, a second determines when the note will be produced and for how long, and a third one produces the motion which causes the bird to turn from side to side. This motor is doing two basic jobs: The first one is to operate a small bellows which supplies air, via a wind chest, to a whistle which produces the birdsong and the second task is to rotate a number of cams. While singing, a bird-shaped piece of grille jumps up to cover the hole through which the automaton has passed.Īll bird box movements have a clock-work motor which must be wound up. While the bird is calling, a decorative pierced grille appears with a bird-shaped hole cut into it through which the performer rises and falls. At the end of the performance the automaton falls back into the box and the lid closes. Then it begins to turn from side to side, to flap its wings, move its tail up and down, open and shut its beak and – in some cases – turn its head from side to side, while producing an unbroken stream of birdsong. On the front of the box there is a small slider that when it is pushed to the right, the lid or medallion lifts to a near-vertical position, and a small, mechanical feathered bird pops through a grille and stands upright at the front centre of the oval opening. It has an oval hole, some 45 x 35 mm in its top, edged normally by a decorative metal bezel. The outer casing is a rectangular box variable in size, although with a standard measurement of approximately 100 × 65 × 40 mm, made of base metal, precious metal, tortoiseshell or other materials. This object is made up of two separate parts, habitually crafted by different makers. The French term tabatière has also come to be used for any small decorative box resembling a snuffbox in form but not necessarily any longer used to contain snuff. Its origins are found in the city of Geneva and its invention in 1784/85 is attributed to Pierre Jaquet-Droz. The bird is shown in a tiny cage, not concealed inside the box as usual.Ī singing bird box ( boîte à oiseau chanteur in French) is a box, usually rectangular-shaped, which contains within a miniature automaton singing bird concealed below an oval lid and activated by means of an operating lever. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.Īn unusual singing bird box by Frères Rochat, ca. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. This article relies largely or entirely on a single source.
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