Jaquet Droz The Charming Bird Automaton Watch Sings And Dances

Museum objects produced by Jaquet Droz and his contemporaries (seen here) in the 18th century often take the form of automaton birds geared to emulate in eerie detail actual birds complete with movement and sound. Bird songs were produced by moving a piston style tube in and out of a shaft rapidly. A small air hole would whistle, sounding remarkably like a real bird. The mechanical bird figurines were designed to often have moving heads, wings, and even beaks. These machines were often parts of