The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-08-22
CHICKENS CAN TALK.
PROFESSOR HAMERlK SAYS so, AND
ne IS AN EXPERT ON THE SUBJECT.

TIE - AW GAFEnt YIN TIE SG0JEGJ.
Some Odd ard Interesting Facts About
Baxnyaxd Fouls-Roosssrs a. wen q
Hens Are Great Gossipess-rasiae Infor-
nation About Growing.
The simians that Professor Garner
diseovereafnfAfRica and which he claims
can talk as readily as human beings will
haEs 10 look TO- their 1aurelS for PRO.
lessor Asger Hamerik of the Peabody,
instftuteF of, Baltimore has made the
discovery that hers and roosterssof fthe
ordinary baruyaxdsh breed holdprUtracted
andiinteresting conversations with each
otheE. 81.
The careful attention he has given
to- theasubject has not been In vain Al
though he has NOT yet advanced 30 fan
inihis researches ~ 20 be able1to discuss
the topics Of the day with his chickens,
he has learned enough 90 pc able 20
tell what . hen means when abe cack-i
len, whethurit a. forsa newly laid egg
on merely O tale1of wos or b pecan of
triumph over the discovery II u fresh
worm or Q JUICY grasshopper. he a
also eell you fromthe tones of a~roOster's
crow whether he IL signaling q victory
overra conquered foe or merely passing
away the time or iheralding the APP
preach Of day.
The.rooster has been the professors
pet subject. He has been ON thesgreatA
est terms or intimacy with Sir Chan.
ticlcer for upward of 30 years. stRoost-
ers,s' said he to q reegrter, tsas well az
hens are the greatest gossipers In the
world. When they get together, they do
nothing but chatter continually This
is true also of the young pullets ! have
watched them for hours at q time, and
they would talk in this way.r Here
the professor gave am imitation cf q hen
clucking and other of the sounds SO fa-
miliar In the farmyard.
THAT they n ~conversing with one
another is proved by the fact that d
rooster on n hem when alone is absolute
~ silent. excepting ON rar occasions,
whentt sings q low lullaby, ~ il were,
to- itself, much as humans hum when.
alone or as q cat viii pur when content
ed Just as soon, however, Is the soli
tary hen or rooster meets another you
will hear an animated conversation. /
have not progressed so far that i ann able
to understand all they say, but I under
stand sorne OF their sounds and can imi-
tate one or two SO successfully that a
hen listening will pay close attention to
~n - Wshx,n - r ScurA %bn v.c&n.n@ ulc~~r
Q hen makes when a hawk is near or
some other danger menace she will inn
mediately f1y to cover"
The professor believes chickens tell
each other current news. One day he in.
troduced a new hen into his yard who,
the very first time she spied the dog, set
mp o great caekling and few around the.
tyarddn:a staterof evident terror. An
old hen observed her for afew minutes
meanwhile making some sounds that
were. intended to reassure the scared
fowl Init which had no effect. for the
neMsaxfival icackIOd sWUrss and LOADER
than ever. Fifallythe old hem appEuacha
adsciosesto thesstEanger, chuckiing lin q
loae tome What she said he,had no
means OF knossing. b utrits'inust 6ase
beeaUsomething q Asreassurtng shAFaos
ter, for the new hen-ae oncgo ceased her
chatter, and neversGfter thatdid chs dis
play the least fear Of the dog.
Growing among the Toosters afforded
Professor HameriE another interesting
study. He noted the crows Of over 500
rposters and meyer found two who
crOWed alike. Each, after q little prae.
tice, could readily be distinguished from
the other. The duration. OF Growing Is
between midnight and noon. Each crow
lasts from three TO seven seconds. Al
though boosters mag. crow at any time
OF night, especially IL IL Ii moonlight or
they are disturbed bya light, they CROW
the most frequently at dawn or just
before.
The growing seems to be q sort Of tel
egraph service between the ROSTERS, ac-
cording to Professor Hamerik, for IN
yariably in q neighborhood where there
are many chickens the growing 81 al
ways started in the morning by the
same rooster. immediately response
comes from all the other roosters. Cen
orally there are about seven crows given
In an interval Of 10 seconds. and then
there is silence for the space OF perhaps
30 seconds, when the first rooster starts
again, and the performance is repeated.
A rooster always crows toe, shortly
after eating, and never fails to voice
his joy in q deep toned crow after be
vanquishes d rival
The professor has discovered, among
other things that chickens have . very
acute sense Of taste, hearing and vision,
but lack the sense Of smell. The most
powerful fumes -of acid are impercepti-
BILE to them An experiment with am
monia proved that, though overcome
with IL, the hens walked blindly into
thA@ same danger repeatedly.
The sense OF taste ID exceedingly well
developed The professor frequently OBJ
served o chicken after eating anything
IL particularly relished give rent to .
peculiar chnckle that was undoubtedly
meant for an exclamation Of pleasure.
The sonnd is a low. soft intonatior,
continued for some seconds. - New
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