Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-11-30
WORDS USED BY BIRDS.
twenty-five in Vocabulary Of the Crows Have
Been Discovered, and Several Expressions
Of Sparrows are Known.


Of Sparrows are Known.
In the Rcrue DIES Rerues there is a
curious article on "The Language OF
Birds" At the end of the last CEN
fury distinguished political econo-
mist, NJ. Dupont de Nemours, sailed
forth into the fields to learn the Ian
guage of the crow and the nightingale.
After two winters shivering about the
highways and hedges he had made out
twenty-five words of crow language.
1t must not be supposed, however,
that crow language is poor because its
words number but five-and-twenty.
"The crows have only to combine
them by twos, by threes, by tours, or
by fives, and they will get a number
of combinations surprising the num-
Der of words contained in the richest
language in the universe" NJ. Ne
mours does not think, however, that
the crows do actually make so many,
Or even any, combinations of the
words in their dictionary. Their
twenty-five words are quite enough to
express "here," "there," hot"
"cold," stake CARE" EARNED man." "a
nest" and a score or moro of expires.
sions which crows might naturally be
supposed to need. "After which
crows have not much left to say" M.
Nemours' dictionary was not crow
French or French-crow dictionary
rather, he translated his crow words
into verse. NJ. Nemours made many
other discoveries while with the birds.
The goldfinch, linnet, and garden
warbler he found sang of nothing but
their loves; but the chaffinch sang
also of its amour propre-conceited
bird; while the male lark pours out
its soul in hymn on the beauties OF
nature, and the vigor with which il
scars aloft, rising higher and highe,
before the eyes of its admiring mate
The nightingale was communicative
it told the French naturalist three oil
its songs.
German naturalists have pursued
their researches into comparative bird
philology even farther. One of theil
celebrated ornithologists tells us that
the language OF the sparrow may be
used az standard of comparison fol
that OF several species.
"Dieb' is the cry which they utter
when on the wing, 'schilp' wher
perching, and these are their two criel
for attracting attention. When they
are eating or at rest they may be con
tinually heard repeating, 'dieb, bilp. o.
bioum.' Their cries of tenderness arr
'durr and die; terri, pronounced with
force and rolling of the r. means tn.
approach of danger; it is a signal o
warning. Should the peril increase
or an enemy have suddenly appeared
they utter another cry, which may b.
distinguished, tellerelltelltelltell.' 1
the sparrow is safe, the bird OF prey O
the cat having disappeared, he repeat
gently, several times over, 'durr.
When the male birds are disputini
the possession of a female, tell, tell
slip, den, dell, deb, schilk,' etc., come
from every throat, producing the deaf
ening noise heard especially in spring.
Mr.. Darlington, Vice President o
the Royal Society of London, also al
acute bird observer, is quoted as say
ing that hardly two birds of the same
kind have a song exactly similar. Lo
cality also influences their songs, the
same bird singing differently in the
mountains and in the plains. Trac
ing back the language of man to it,
most primitive beginnings is it so diff
ferent in nature or in origin from the
language of the crows and nightin'
gales?