The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-03-29
HOW THE BIRDSTALK
A GOVERNMENT EXPERT HAS
STUDIED THEIR LANGUAGE.

Il
More or Less Freely, But the Hen
Is the Best Conversationalist Of All.
"An interesting phase of the study
of bird language is the discovery that
1t is not the most highly developed
birds that have the greatest variety OF
sounds expressing different things,
and therefore the largest vocabulary.
ON the contrary, the common field
crow has vocabulary more express
slve and of n wider range than many
of the finest song birds. In all the
comparisons, however, l except the
parrot, which | regard as more of n
human than bird.
"The bird language has notes indl-
eating all the emotions-envy. love,
| jealousy, contentment, alarm, pain,
| pleasure. 1t Is sufficiently comprehcn-
| sive for the needs of the different
families and that it is thoroughly un
derstood even by the young birds at
an early age Is demonstrated TO the
satisfaction of all who have given the
subject any serious and intelligent
consideration.
"The American wild turkey, one OF
the finest fowls Of the Western world,
| or the Eastern for that matter, affords
one of the best illustrations of the
versatility of bird language. 1t has n
vocabulary of at least II dozen words.
well defined. For instances, its con
stant peril from half II dozen sources,
| overhead, and underfoot, renders nee
essary different notes to express the
| kind of danger, whether immediate or
| prospective, and the source. whether
| in the air or on the ground. For dan
| ger overhead, as from hawk or an
| eagle, where the peril Is still remote,
the turkey has low note, well drawn
out, which cautions every inrr"ber ~
| the flock. For immediate danger ii
| gives an entirely different note, quick,
sharp. prolonged, tremulous, meaning,
Hide! The enemy! The enemy"
when danger threatens from fox
or dog n distinct signal must be
used. From the dog or the fox he
must fly up into the trees, From the
hawk or the eagle the turkey must
hide on the ground in the undcrhrrlsh.
Thus, when the dog or the fox appears
the signal to fly is given The same
note as the flying signal is used when
there is suspicion of danger on the
| ground, except that the notc is pro.
longed instead of being quickly ut.
tered. The instant the warning OF dan.
| ger from an unknown enemy on the
ground Is heard every bird in the flock
ceases feeding. With necks elongated,
| looking carefully in every direction.
| the flock circles around until II has
covered an area great enough to show
that the alarm was groundless.
when feeding in Il field where the
| food Is plentiful and of the kind it
| likes the turkey has a sound of con.
| tentment. varying at the different
stages, until the final word from the
| patriach of the flock checks the meal
| Instantly and away they 90. The tur.
| key also has words or sounds of def.
ance, often combined with the gobble
| of the male. Its vocabulary includes
ringing note of eXultation when he
has conquered a foe, and distinct and
characteristic expressions for envy,
want, pain, pleasure, alarm or com
| fort.
Generally the song of the singing
| bird is merely Il call for its ma @.
When the canary in its gilded cage
| sings loudest, it is usually call of
agony, instead of pleasure. 1t Is pour.
Ing out music from its throat in the
mad endeavOr to call it's absent mate
| to its side. Correctly interpreted, it Is
| an appeal for freedom, an appeal for
the happiness of old, when with its
mate 1t wandered free in the empire
| of the air.
In my investigations / have found
that the hen bird of the domestic
chicken has as fluent command of
language as almost any member of
the featherG<l tribe She Is much
more fluent talker than the male, her
lord and master, and her vocabulary
discounts anything thus far discov-
cred in this particular field of investi-
| CATION. The cackle of the hen Is used
for instance. for three distinct pur-
poses, and she has as many distinc-
| tive notes. She uses In seeking the
nest or when calling her mate one soft
| note; another, of triumphant rejoicing
| as she either flies to the nest or from
1t. Likewise. she has three songs of
distinct types. the love song, a happy
response to the eager counting of her
mate; the song of Indifference, when
idly hunting for food, indicating no
certain purpose in her movements: the
lullaby song, low. grooming. 500 h ng
note. hushing the young chickens to
sleep.
Il have frequently experimental
| with the lullaby song by initiating the
low. soothing notes. and little chick
ems held in the hands and thus sung
will quickly fall asleep. The mother
hen has also various notes for warn
Ing her brood. She uses harsh, sharp
combination OF csickle and cry to
warn them OF a snake or an unknown
object on the ground. while to notify
them that she considers certain food
unfit for them she utilizes n variation
of the slumber song. A certain sharp,
prolonged note Is used by the hen to
keep strange chickens from her brood,
ana how well the little fluffy mites un-
derstand the mother tongue may be
- ~ ilg IN any poultry
yard how twenty hens with as many
broods. nearly all OF the same age,
will keep every member of their par
ticular families in line There Is no
mixing the babies in the chicken
| world Every. chicken knows its pro.
tectors call. and the mother hen
knows the individual progeny for
which she holds herself responsible.
THE quail, Mormon of the fowl
family. is also the possessor of vo-
cabulary somewhat more extensive
than the majority of his kind, but not
so large as that Of the domestic hen.
Because of the habits of the bird
and the inability to catch his natural
moods in captivity, little progress has
thus far been made in interpreting the
sounds which comprise his language
In kan ftnfN oil. L.. IL