Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-08-08
BIRD LANGUAGE.

Eeathercu Creatures have II focaDuldry
That IL Very Expressive.
The Oriental stories of the wise men
who understood the language of birds
are type or prefguring Of certain IN
veStigations which are now being car
ried on by men Of science in the
United States and elsewhere. Pro1.
Nelson r. Wood of the National Mu'
scum ut Washington, has made an ill.,
formal report OH this subject which
is interesting. He declares that re-
searches are in progress which. in the
near future, will greatly enlarge ou1
knowledge of the language of birds,
and will present proof of the remark
able elaboration and detail Of some q
these bird languages"
These are not languages" in the or
binary human sense that they are de-
yelopcd into words more or less mo-
notonously spoken, and depending on
the alienation of consonantsandvow-
els for their definition; but by great
many and various sounds the birds
express q considerable number Of DIFF
ferent feelings, and their calls and
cries are always understood. and Ii
there is occasion. needed by other
birds. These feelings include alarm.
love, jealousy, contentment, pain ana
pleasure.
Professor Wood asserts that the
common crow has u vocabulary more
expressive and of wider range than
that of many of the finest song BIRDS.
And the American wild turkey AZ
fords one of the best illustrations of the
versatility of bird language. The
turkey has perfectly distlnguishable
vocabulary of mt least dozen words.
Its constant peril from half a dozen
sources, overhead and underfoot, has
rendered it necessary that it shall pos
sess a special call or alarm for each
of these rrilS.
For danger from overhead, as from
q hawk or an eagle, the. turkey has
low note, we'll drawn out, which eau
tions every member of q flock. For
immediate danger it gives an entirely
different note, quick, sharp, tremulous'
which is instantly taken by the other
turkeys to mean. Hide! hide instant
ly! The enemy! the enemy!""
When danger threatens from n fox
or n dog Il distinctly different signal
must be used. 1t signifies rake
wing" and the turkeys who hear It
are instantly in the air.
The same note is used when there is
other danger on the ground, only the
note Is prolonged instead of being
quickly uttered, and in this case the
turkeys do not ut once take to flight;
but the feeding ceases, and with necks
stretched to their longest to enable the
eye to see as far as possible, the flock
circles around until it has covered an
area great enough to show that the
alarm was Sroundless.
When feeding in field where the
food is plentiful and good. the turkey
makes q sound expressive of content
ment, varying at the different stages.
until the final word from the patriarch
of the flock checks the meal, and away
the birds go.
The common hen is not far behind
the turkey in her vocabulary. The
hen, Professor Wood says, is much
more fluent talker than the rooster.
Her cackle is used for three different
purposes, and each cackle is different
from the other cacliles. One she uses
when seeing nest or calling for her
mate; one when she is frightened; ana
another, of very triumphant sort, as
she flies from or to her nest.
The hen has songs of three distinct
types-the love song, n happy response
to her mate; the song of indifference,
when idly hunting for food. indicating
no certain purpose in her movements;
and, the lullaby song, a low, grooming
soothing note, hushing the young
chickens to sleep.
The variations of the notes of birds
seem to be as endless as their needs
Youths Companion.