Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1899-10-06
Are you there Are you there7 be-
|. sides other notes In time OF trou ble. y

Are you there q, Are you there q be-;
sides other notes in time Of trouble.
& As for the gold-Winged WOO peckers,
the NAL es:,make. the woods ring like q
party Of old fox hunters. n arrup, var
;rup!gs UP! Ply u. If. Chapman, who has
especially studied what birds say de-
scribes also q salute, loud and hearty,
kee-yer! a meditative cub cub, and a
sound III like the swishing Of O willow
wand. Z weechew, weechew. They also
chuclSle and complain, and the baby
golden-wings call Unnecessarily from their
lhigh-hole nursery.
The cardinals calls are almost num-
berless, slow and Querulous, quick and
lively, full of joy and triumph, on anX-
.ious and troubled. i The orioles are
known by o. gay and bold whistle, whit
tn. whit-tu! high among the branches,
but they have also a harsh chack,
yexed; and they are very easily veXed
or frightened. in spite of their brave
show and their joyous songs.
IS Cat-birds have two notes of warning;
the first is q rather low, cluclS,~ cluck!
as If in u whisper; the second, in moro
and nasal. The .cuckoos also clucll-
cluck. and in addition have a rafting
call. tut-tut-tut! or huk-huk! and cow
cow. not the distinct cuckoo-call that
the Euronean cuckoo gives, but one
slightly resembling It.
The wood-thrush also has various
calls. Sitting one sunset hour at the
edge OF q wood, I saw and heard
woodthrush in turn gurgle, buzz, make
q metallic, brassy note. a quick, chip
ping calls q chatter. the usual pit. pit.
and intersperse all these with its dell
cious and liquid a-o-li, or come to me.
which is its characteristic song. had
heard these sounds before, but could
not believe that they came from the
thrush's golden throat until I caught
him in the act.
Place has its influence over song. The
melody OF the Western meadow-lark is
far swecter and more subtle in sugges-
ton than that of the Eastern, and
there is o. difference between the notes
OF the Northern and the Carolina chick
ndee. -
There are great many individual
variations, and these are likely to oc-
cur in certain kinds of birds. The
,meadow-larss may have q nasal call,
a rolling twittcr, or a whistle, clear as
pipe. sweet ms a flute, and subject to
my changes that the caprice of the
singers suggests.
The great Carolina wren has a multi
tude OF calls, all hard to define, all
marvellous in their sonorous, ringing
quality from such tiny throat As
far the chats and the mocl1ing- birds,
endowed with the double gift Of MINI
icry and ventriloquism. one never
knows what to expect. Mr.. Burroughs
compares the noises made by a yellow
breasted chat to those of puppy, a
duck. SinGtisher. Il crow. fox and a
cat. besides others indescribable.
On the other hand. there are uneX
pected licensees, rs astonishing in
widely different birds as the differences
in birds of the same family, or the
notes of the same birds. The tiny yell
low throatcd vireo has more than once
deceived me into expecting the flashing
orange and black of the Baltimore ori-
ole. The hermit-thrush and the whip
poorwill, so unlike otherwise, have each
q habit OF softly chucking to them
selves in the dusk. See your singers,
Is counsel not be neglected by even
an experienced ornithologst.
Then, every human listener inter-
prets according to his own mood and
after his own fashion. A friend of
mine insists that she has heard a bird
call Come here. right quick" with
ringing emphasis on the last word. The
great crested fiy-catchcr says 'What?"
the red-eyed vireo, do You hear It?
Dc you believe it?" the whites eyed
who are you, eh?" the yellow throat
ed. I'm here; where are your the
cardinal calls Quick. quick. hurry"
the tanager, up, up. In the trce-top"
All these are bird-notes in mans
words, but there are also for bird fam
lies an untranslatable language. King
birds have "a steely clatter;;" waxwings
lisp; bluejays scream: swallows twill
ter; humming birds squeak; woodpeck-
ers rap; rufIled grouse drum or beat
n tattoo; owls snap their mandibles
1ueerly, and flycatchers make sounds
like a sneeze and like wings cutting
swiftly through the air.