There is no joy in Kauai, for the o�o is extinct.

Hubby has been reading a book on the origins of music which examine �music making� in non-human animals as well. He was telling me about gibbons who mate for life, and how mated pairs will sing duets together. He did some research online and actually found a NPR website with examples of these antiphonal songs which he played for me. They were actually quite lovely. The gibbons have beautiful voices and do some interesting and very musical things with their ornaments and phrases.

There were also recordings of other species singing, and the one which he played for me that brought a lump to my throat was of a male Kauai o�o calling for a mate. It was a beautiful, poignant song, full of trills and melodic variation. If I were a female o�o, I would be sorely tempted to seek out the author of such a serenade. Unfortunately, the song went unanswered and the o�o, which was endangered at the time of the recording, is now extinct. It makes me very sad.

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