By the time Couperin had completed the third book of his masterwork Pièces de clavecin, he had succeeded in converting the suite from a mere collection of dances to a highly individual vision expressing satirical wit, the poetry of emotions, and, as in this 14th order, imitating the non-human creatures of the world (but also regarding them somewhat animistically as agents of feelings that are all too human).

For example, "Le Rossignol-en-amour (The Nightingale in Love)." Played slowly and very tenderly ("lentement et tres tendrement"), its lovely, gradually descending D major melody also is imbued at points with surprising modal turns and bird-like embellishments; especially notable is the two-note warble that is to be "imperceptibly" speeded-up until a double-turn embellishment leads back to the melody. Couperin suggests in a footnote that the melody line can be played on a transverse flute if that is desired, which would of course yield quite a uniquely avian timbre.

The "Double du Rossignol (Double of "The Nightingale")" employs the same material as the previous piece, but adds more internal runs and embellishments, especially the bird trill-like "pincés diésés et bémolisés" (sharp and flat pinched notes).

"La Linote-éfarouchée (The Bird-Alarm)" is a rondeau that rolls along in an unstoppable, nervous but jolly 12/8 meter. Like the rondo-form, so important in Couperin's period, the beginning section is returned to after each couplet expansion and its repetition.

"Les Fauvétes Plaintives (The Plaintive Warblers)," played "very tenderly," is pitched in close voicings in the treble range. The sad D minor scale has dotted rhythms, similar to what would later characterize the French overture, and bird-like grace notes, trills, and turns. The close voicing gives the impression of a group of birds singing melodiously in the same tree.

"Le Rossignol-Vainqueur (The Victorious Nightingale)" is in another jaunty, lighthearted 12/8. The figures are constructed from the rotation of two notes giving a birdsong quality to the melody, rather than the previous rolling style employing scale runs.

"La Julliet (Juliet's Dance)," written on three staves, is intended to be played on two harpsichords, both taking the bass line, with one on the "subject" line and the other on the "counter part" (which is a parallel harmonization above, rather than below, the subject). The form is again that of a rondo, and the dance moves "gaily" in triple meter.

"Le Carillon de Cithére (The Cithere Carillon)" is a curious piece suggesting both plucked string techniques (broken thirds) and bird-like sounds (high staccatos, turns combined with trills). The two hands are in very close voicing, like the previous "Les Fauvétes Plaintives." The cithara was a strummed harp, the predecessor of the lute; the name may possibly have come from the Greek island of Cithere located between the Penelopese and Crete.

"Le Petit-Rien (A Little Something)" is a simple tune in a triple meter with a skip on the third beat.

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