# Edward Avis

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**Edward Avis** was the stage name of **Martin E. Sullivan** (1872 - 1955?), an American violinist and stage performer known for his imitations of birdsongs. He performed on the stage in New England and was referred to by the press as "The Bird Man".[1]

Sullivan was born in [Enfield, Connecticut](/source/Enfield,_Connecticut), and as you child he was said to go into the "woods with his violin and strike up a chorus among the birds".[1] He learned the songs of birds around the United States and began to write down their songs, whistle them and produce melodies. He performed for gatherings of the Audubon Societies. A review of a performance in January 1908 "An Evening in Birdland" given to members of the Audubon Society at the [George Washington University](/source/George_Washington_University) said:[2]

His whistling is a natural gift, but his bird songs are the result of constant study and close companionship with birds. Mr Avis adopts a standard in his study of bird music. As he hears a bird's song, he writes it down, whistles it repeatedly, perfects it by study and practice, and the results are his wonderful little melodies. These melodies were a feature of his lecture last night. Stereopticon pictures were thrown on the screen, Mr Avis would whistle bird songs and one could almost imagine it was summer.

Avis was a careful imitator of birds and he often performed before academic audiences. He also included a mix of his mimicry with the violin.[3] He also performed for blind audiences.[4] He was a contemporary of [Charles Crawford Gorst](/source/Charles_Crawford_Gorst), [Charles Kellogg](/source/Charles_Kellogg_(naturalist)) and several others who specialized in the imitation of birds. His promotional brochures included reviews by [John Burroughs](/source/John_Burroughs) and Winthrop Packard. Many recordings were made by Avis for [Columbia Records](/source/Columbia_Records) and after the rise in popularity of the radio, he also contributed to radio shows.[2]

He was interested in conservation and sponsored a 100 dollar reward for anyone who could find an undisturbed nest of the [passenger pigeon](/source/Passenger_pigeon) in Connecticut as part of a national campaign to rescue the bird from extinction in 1910.[5]

## References

1. Smith, Jacob (2015). *Eco-Sonic Media*. University of California Press. p. 62.

1. Tipp, Cheryl (2013) [A True Confluence of Currents](https://thequietus.com/articles/14019-edward-avis-art-of-mimicry-antidote-to-indifference-caught-by-the-river). Caught by the River. An antidote to indifference. Issue 6.

1. di Liscia, Eleonora (2009). ["Beginnings: The 1920s"](https://www.ensbc.org/sites/default/files/BirdCalls%20Summer%202009.pdf). *Newsletter of the Evanston North Shore Bird Club*

1. ["Social circle for blind entertained with bird mimicry"](https://archive.org/stream/scrapbookofclipp28perk#page/30/mode/1up/). *Unidentified*. 12 April 1930.

1. "A last effort to find and save from extinction the Passenger Pigeon". *Bird Lore*. **12**: 10. 1910.

## External links

- [Bird Calls with Story, Part II; Bird Calls with Story, Part I](https://archive.org/details/78_bird-calls-with-story-part-i_edward-avis-howard-r-garis_gbia0016761)
- [Presumed grave](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/113640986)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Edward Avis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Avis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Avis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.