Subject: Re: BIRD SONG MASTER (fwd)
Date: May 24 13:51:55 1994
From: W.A. Retzlaff - wr13 at CORNELL.EDU

Linda Harris Wrote:

> I saw an advertisment in Winging It for Bird Song Master.
> It is a bird song learning software. Does anyone have any
> experience with it? I would be interested in your
> experience. Is is useful for both eastern and western
> species?
> Thanks
> Linda Harris Redondo Beach CA
> 00f7127 at ccmail.emis.hac.com


I have the program called Bird Songs. It is GREAT. I am running it on a
Mac IIfx. I listen to the calls in the background in my office all day
long. The free package comes with about 25 songs, with an additional 80 or
so available for purchase. I have only tried the quiz a couple of times,
but that feature works well too. I sent for all the additional bird songs
disks and the turn-around was about 5-7 days. The email address of Dave
Godbey (the software distributer) is at the end of the manuals I pasted in
the following text:


SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION:

This software is Postcardware, so please enjoy it. If you use the software
more than twice, we request that you send a postcard telling us how you
like it. Please include a brief description of the equipment you use it on
(eg. Quadra 700), and a discussion of any problems or suggestions you have
for it. You may distribute it freely, but Bird SongsT may not be sold or
otherwise used for commercial purposes without the written consent of
ProtoHype. If you do distribute it, you must include this document with the
Bird SongsT program, or with any other part of the package transfered.

Limit of Liability. While we expect you will have no problems with Bird
SongsT, we must specify that: IN NO EVENT WILL PROTOHYPE BE LIABLE TO YOU
FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST
PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS, EVEN IF A PROTOHYPE REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY PARTY.

ProtoHype
P.O. Box 705
Burtonsville, MD 20866
(301) 384-7568


SOFTWARE MANUAL:

I hope that the operation of Bird SongsT is straight forward enough to
require little explanation here. However, I will describe briefly its
features.

Bird SongsT can be run on any Mac more modern than a Mac SE (untested on an
SE 30). It requires System 6.0.5 or better, including System 7.1. It does
not require a color monitor, although the pictures don't look very good in
black and white (1 bit monitor).

After launching Bird SongsT, the main window is brought to the foreground
after the brief introductory splash screen displaying the Bird SongsT
masthead. Let's start with the Mode menu. Three items appear as seen below
The Sound and/or the Picture items may be selected. These add functionality
in the foreground only, and do the obvious thing: allow the playing of bird
songs and/or the displaying of pictures. You can review pictures and/or
songs of the birds by clicking the bird name in the scrolling window. The
third menu item when selected, Play Songs in Background, causes a
continuous play of bird songs in a random order when Bird SongsT is in the
background. It plays only songs, and this mode allows you to exercise your
ear while doing other things, like typing a report. The Bird Bath menu is
shown below.

The bottom item, Play Game, puts you in a competitive mode when selected.
The most challenging way to approach the game is to turn off the pictures
and try to identify the birds by song only. If, after hearing the song, you
aren't sure of the bird's identity, push the Repeat button near the center
of the window to hear the song again. If you just don't know and don't want
to guess any more, push the Next button, and the next random bird will be
played. The game is finished when you have successfully identified (or
skipped with the Next button) all the birds. If your score is one of the
best scores seen by your computer, the High Scores window will be summoned
to allow you to put your name on the High Scores list. Make sure you select
the mode you want to keep score by, Percent Correct or Total Score, in the
High Scores dialog box. If you use total score, then the amount of time it
takes to finish the game also is included in your score. The faster you
finish, the higher your score will be.

The last item in the Bird Bath menu is the Make Bird List item. Selecting
this item summons the Bird List Manager dialog box shown below. The use of
this box enables you to generate a small list to help you memorize the bird
songs available.

The first scroll box contains a pop-up menu on top of it, shown here
appears "My Backyard Birds 1." This pop-up menu displays the documents
available, and when each document is selected, the bird songs (and
pictures) it contains appear in the left hand scroll box. By selecting
birds and pushing the Add button, you build a list in the right hand scroll
box. Duplicate birds are perfectly legitimate. You can remove items from
the list by selecting and pushing the Remove button. When you are done,
push OK, and your new list appears in the main Bird SongsT window. If you
want to save this generated list, don't forget to save it through the File
menu. To reset the entire available list, push the Reset List button. The
Open item in the File menu will enable you to call a previously saved list.

ProtoHype hopes you enjoy this copy of Bird SongsT. You may distribute it
freely, but Bird SongsT may not be sold, included on "for sale" Share Ware
disks and CD-ROMs, or otherwise used for commercial purposes without the
written consent of ProtoHype.

********************************************************************
Please let us know what you think. Write for a list of available disks
containing other
bird s ongs and pictures.
********************************************************************

Any bug reports should be sent to us either electronically or by mail to
the addresses listed below.

ProtoHype
P.O. Box 705
Burtonsville, MD 20866
(301) 384-7568


ADDITIONAL BIRD SONGS:

The disks are available with sounds and pictures compressed on 1.4 Mbyte
floppy disks. $5 per disk, or all 5 disks for $20 covers shipping and handling.
The following 5 packages are now available:

Disk 1: Forest Birds I and Finches

Forest Birds I

Red-eyed Vireo
Solitary Vireo
Brown Creeper
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Finches

Purple Finch
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin
Evening Grosbeak
Pine Grosbeak
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
_________________________________________

Disk 2: Blackbirds and Nocturnal Birds

Blackbirds and Hawks I

Bobolink
Northern Oriole
Orchard Oriole
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk

Nocturnal Birds

Eastern Screech Owl
Northern Saw-Whet Owl
Barred Owl
Barn Owl
Great Horned Owl
Common Nighthawk
Whip-poor-will
Chuck-will's-widow
_________________________________________

Disk 3: Shorebirds I and Sparrows II

Shorebirds I

Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Common Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Willet
Semipalmated Plover
Black-bellied Plover

Sparrows II

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Rufous-sided Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
_________________________________________

Disk 4: Common Warblers and Shorebirds II

Common Warblers

Black-and-White Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Ovenbird

Shorebirds II

Lesser Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Short-billed Dowitcher
Ruddy Turnstone
Atlantic Golden Plover (formerly Lesser Golden Plover)
Solitary Sandpiper
Whimbrel
_________________________________________

Disk 5:

Edge and Suburban Birds and Hawks II

Gray Catbird
Eastern Phoebe
Cedar Waxwing
Brown Thrasher
Warbling Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Chimney Swift
Red-shouldered Hawk
Bald Eagle

Water Birds

Belted Kingfisher
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Common Loon
American Bittern
Pied-billed Grebe
_________________________________________


To receive your disks, please send a check or money order payable to:

For more information, contact us at the above address or by e'mail at:

Internet: godbey at delphi.com


==============================================================================
WA (Bill) Retzlaff *
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research / \
Ph. (607)254-1226 / \
FAX (607)254-1242 / \
email wr13 at cornell.edu / \
/ ------- \
| |
... And he gave it for his opinion,
that whoever could make two ears of corn,
or two blades of grass,
to grow upon a spot where only one grew before,
would deserve better of mankind,
and do more essential service to his country,
than the whole race of politicians put together.

Jonathon Swift from GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
==============================================================================