Evening star., 1902-01-18
The Crows Call and Its Various
Changes
WHEN BE MEANS LOVE OR FEAR
Not Regarded Such a Pest a
Formerly.
OMNI EROUS STES
Copyright. 1901. by Hughes & ousiey.)

| Written for The Evening Star.
Who does not know the crow? IL not
recognized by his sable coat, certainly his
coarse "caw-caw' is familiar. When 1
write or talk about crows the first thing
that comes to my mind is their language.
! The reader will doubtless smile at this
| But all ask is that you listen to our birhs
| carefully and try to fix In your mind the
various sourds they make. Then you will
agree that they have a language. To learn
! this lesson-one of the greatest in nature
you will probably have to practice for some
time. as it is largely matter of sense
| training
You. of course, can hear the birds but
! you must cultivate your ear so as to be
able to catch the value of slight differences
| and be able to interpret them. For be-
ginner in this study of the language of
the feathered world there is no better bird
| to listen to than the common black crow
and by this / do not mean to say that
crows have any larger vocabulary than a
great many other birds. but their Ian
guage is so loud and clear II may be studied
at quite a distance. Then, too, the com
bination of sounds used by the crows are
distinctively different: so much so, in fact
| it Is soon very easy to catch their meaning
When / write of this bird language mine
| is consuming desire to give the reader
the proper idea of what it means, but it is
something that cannot be put on paper.
These calls and their value in converse ton
are easy in direct vocal culture, but when
written I'm notes they are fat and give only
a slight conception of what Is wished in
Interpretation. Some few bird songs and
calls can be written, but they are those
which have full tone values. Most of the
| bird notes break or have a sliding value
and some are trilled and turned until you
despair when trying to put them down in
black and white.
To come back, however, to the language
Of the crow. The first call you will be able
! to recognize is the common. loud slow
"caw-caw." Given rather deliberately and
seeming to mean. Come, come" 1t is used
for what might be termed q call note, to
bring other crows TO a rich find or to some
high conclave. such as they often hold in
fall and winter. Approach a number OF
crows. One of them is certain to see you
and give the alarm by saying "Caw-caw,"
though In quite a different manner-sharp,
quick jerky, nervous, always meaning,
Hurry, boys. danger" Once sounded the
whole dusky crew takes to wing and flies
away.
At the edge of the woods one of them
suddenly checks his flight and calls,
'Caw-caw." 1t is slightly different from
the danger call and is known to mean "A
hawk boys" or AN owl to tease" Then
as the crows circle around their prey, one
flies high over the victim and swoops at
it, calling "Caw-aw, caw-aw." This pecu-
Har, cultural caw-aw Is never sounded
except when teasing or swooping upon
some ora.
Their Love Song.
The last bit Of crow conversation famil-
| lar to me is what might be termed his love
song. do not wish any one to think that
crow can sing, but the notes used only
during the nesting period may be truth
fully designated as his love song. AS he
perches on a limb near where his mate
sits on her brooding nest, In low tones he
tells her all manner of pleasant things.
As was said in the beginning of this
sketch. ones ability to understand bird lam
guage Is simply matter of ear training
To show what is meant, | need only remind
you that a telegraph operator has an ear
SO trained that the whole scope of human
language may be interpreted in combina-
tions Of dotes and dashes. Now, If the entire
human language comes within this small
scope, what is possible with our bird songs?
Train your ears to catch and interpret ma
lures sounds in wood and field and a new
world will open to you; a world which
never grows old; world all your own and
which changes from season to season.
Crows are birds of great sense Of reason.
They have remarkable eye for distance
and seem to know the range of shotgun
almost to the fraction of an inch. Try to
surprise them and you will find that they
are always on their guard. II in a shell
tered spot where they can get an extended
view Of the surrounding country, they are
sure to post picket in commanding po-
sition. Approach this old fellow and he
once the whole flock takes to wing
Have Good Points.
Crows have been hunted and prosecuted
for years; in fact. almost since the first
pioneers planted their corn in the small
clearings In the forest. Still they do not
seem to diminish In numbers, and the farm
er of today is beginning to learn that they
are not the pest he has supposed them to
be. The Agricultural Department at Wash
ington, after an exhaustive study of the
subject, says that the good the crows do
greatly outweighs the harm they do grow
ing crops.
OF course, occasionally they will pull up
young corn to get the soft, swollen kernel;
and. again, they will take nice, young fry
ing chicken from the poultry yard, but we
should not forget that 1.-The workman is
worthy his meat" The crows appetite is
very diverse. He will eat a bit of fresh
meat, piece of carrion. grain of all sorts
and insects He is. in fact. practically onl-
niverous In his taste. Often his shiny
black coat is to be seen in the newly
plowed fields. where he is busy picking up
earth worms and grubs. He usually walks