The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-02-09
HOW THE BIRDSTALK
A GOVERNMENT EXPERT HAS
STUDIED THEIR LANGUAGE.
He Says the Crow Is Great Talker,
and the Wild Turkey converses
More or Less Freely, But the Hen
Is the Best convsrsationaIist of All.

More or Less Freely, But the Hen
Is the Best convsrsationalist 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 a vocabulary more express
sive and of wider range than many
OF the finest song birds. In all the
comparisons, however, l except the
parrot, which l regard as more of a
human than a bird.
"The bird language has notes indi.
eating all the emotions-envy, love,
jealousy, contentment, alarm, pain,
pleasure. 1t is sufficiently comprehen-
sive for the needs of the different
families and that it is thoroughly I'M
derstood even by the young birds ut
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
vocabulary of at least a dozen words,
well defined For instances, it's con-
slant peril from half dozen sources,
overhead, and underfoot, renders nee
eSSary different notes to express the
kind Of danger, whether immediate VI
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 mrI'ber Of
the flock. For immediate danger it
gives an entirely different note, quick,
sharp, prolonged, tremulous, meaning,
| Hide! The enemy! The enemy?
when danger threatens from a fox
or dog a 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 uuderblIlSh.
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 a suspicion of danger on the
ground, except that the note 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 it has
covered an area great enough to show
that the alarm was groundless.
"When feeding in q 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 go. 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 foe, and distinct and
characteristic expressions for envy,
want, pain, pleasure, alarm or com
fort.
Generally the song of the singing
bird is merely call for its ma e.
When the canary in it's gilded cage
sings loudest, it is usually a call of
agony, instead of pleasure. 1t is pour
ing out music from it's throat in the
mad endeavor to call its absent mate
to it's side. Correctly interpreted, it is
an appeal for freedom, an appeal fol
the happiness of old, when with its
mate it wandered free in the empire
: of the air.
"In my investigations | have found
that the hen bird of the domestic
chicken has as fluent a command OF
language as almost any member OF
the feathered tribe. She is a 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 thu
nest or when calling her mate one soft
note; another, of triumphant rejoicing
as she either flies to the nest or from
it. Likewise she has three songs OF
distinct types, the love song, a happy
response to the eager counting of hen
mate: the song of Indifference, wher
idly hunting for food, indicating NJ
certain purpose in her movements; til,
lullaby song, low, grooming, 500 b n
note, hushing the young chickens t.
sleep.
81 have frequently experimental
with the lullaby song by initiating the
low, soothing notes, and little chick
ems held in the hands and thus suns
to in the language they understand
will quickly fall asleep. The mother
hen has also various notes for warn
] ing her brood. She uses a harsh, sharl
, combination of cackle and cry t,
warn them of a snake or an unknowi
, object on the ground, while to motif!
them that she considers certain fool
unfit for them she utilities a variation
of the slumber song. A certain sharp
, prolonged note is used by the hen t
keep strange chickens from her brood
and how well the little fluffy mites I'm
| derstand the mother tongue may h.
!. serving in any pOultr,
. ward how twenty hens with as man,
broods, nearly all of the same ag'
. will keep every member of their pal
!, ticular families in line. There is II
mixing the babies in the chicken
} world. Every chicken knows its pro
4 tector's call, and the mother hel
knows the individual progeny TO
Q which she holds herself responsible.
"The quail, Mormon of the foW
3 family, is also the possessor of a We
cabulary somewhat more extensiv
than the majority of his kind, but no
r SO large as that of the domestic hen.
Because of the habits of the bir
. and the inability to catch his natura
' moods in captivity, little progress ha
: thus far been made in interpreting I'll
Q sounds which comprise his language.
!, "In the near future we shall be abb
a to group the language of the variou
Q members of the fowl family into