Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-01-07
VENIRIL0QUISM
AMONG THE BIRDS.
One OF the Accomplishments
Which Lower Animals Seem to
Possess Inherently

rA - FA& &S[
Nhich the lower animals SCI to pos
sess inherently, but which man can
only gain through great application.
It would take a long time for a boy
to learn to make the sort OF snare
that a spider spins instinctively, and
a colony OF beavers can build a bet
ter dam than a a crowd OF un-
trained men.
One of the human accomplish
ments hard to learn Is ventriloquism.
It seems to be a gift which comes to
but few of the human species; yet
among birds there are species every
individual of which possess the power
of making the voice to come
from another spot than thai in which
the. owner is located.
There seems to be very little rea-
son for this in most cases, but still
there must be some, for nature Is
very economical in bestowing her
gifts, and one may be sure that the
possession of the power argues Its
usefulness. The first example of ven
tri1oQuism which will occur to most
people is the voice of the mourning,
dove. / suppose that every boy has
been fooled by this bird. I know that
I was, and was delighted when I dis
covered, after walking around q tree
in the orchard, that the voice did not
come from far away but close at
hand.
When the mourning-dove utters
his call he swells up air-sacs in his
breast and neck, and these act as 4
sort of sounding chamber, which
tends to hold and repress the sound,
as a sound is made in a barrel. The
emu has the same quality In his
voice. It is as though these birds
swallow their voices.
The has some notes which
are very ventriloquial in quality. One
note in particular is much like the
bark of a distant dog, SO much SO, in
fact, that I had trouble in convinc-
ing a friend that it was the voice of
a crow about three hundred feet
away and not that Of a distant dog.
The chlckadee has a call-note of such
quality that its source~is always I'M
certain until the bird is located.
The oven birds teacher! teach,
er!" always seems to come from sew
.eral feet higher than where the bird
is actually standing.
The thrushes, at least the wood
thrush and the robin, have a peculiar
habit Of singing to themselves, as II
were. Often, as I have been sitting
~ %h~ -y@~3~E - - 1-.x~L 49,
singing, say, thirty feet away, which
I supposed was at least 200 yards
away, until I discovered the bird.
The whispered song is perfect SO far
as phrasing and notes are concerned,
but in a very low key.
I have heard a European thrush
sing ina cage at the zoo when the
notes could not be heard farther than
fifteen feet. With my ear within
three feet the song was as perfect and
beautiful as in the ordinary way.
Why these birds sing so / have nc
idea.
The peculiar wattles on the neck
Of a guinea fowl had no significance
to me until one day when I was max
ing g careful drawing of a wild gui-
nea fowl. The wild guinea cock has
wattles as the domestic one, only ex-
aggerated. I noticed that when the
cocks beak was toward me his harsh
call was louder. Then I noticed that
when his beak was open the lower
mandible, being lowered, almost
filled the space between the two side
wattles, thus making a cup, and that
the notes were thrown by a sort OF
megaphone, or just as a boy throws
his voice by making a CUP of his
hands.-From Mature and Science"
in st. Nicholas.