The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-05-09
esa0 laagsaes Of tie Various
feaoherod Trlbes- s-Even Spar
W,ss Can Acquire tise Art Of
0slody- Some Bird Parents
Ways Of Nesting-The Grouse
Dance Executed to a Nicely.

- UPPOSE spring had come with
out the happy song Of a single
Al bird to herald it! Suppose the
velces Of all the feathered crea-
tufs o8 the air were stilled!
People, ~ q rule, indulge in no such
suppositions. accepting Of natures gen
erous bounty quite as a matter Of
course. And yet II our song birds
should suddenly become extinct
Strange void would be felt in the gem
Eal scheme Of things. 1t is the glori-
o1s month of May. The meadow lark
has reappeared bearing his message.
"Speing O. the year. spring O. the year"
Gorgoous robin redbreast has come
back and In his wake myriads of other
winged messengers of good cheer. 1t
= spring, and the world Is glad.
The study Of birds is known as Or
nithoaoU. Ornithologists discovered
leag ago that many birds are ready
learners and expressed the opinion
that ths feathered tribes could be train
ID 1A song and speech. Remarkable
results have been accomplished. Star
n1gD are well known as birds sus-
espdble not only of learning to whistle
anpls melodies, but as rivals of par
rsts IN reproducing with great distinc-
deo abort sentences. Canary birds
havs frequently been recorded as learn
ing to whistle simple tunes, and there
are number Of well attested accounts
ef their reproducing with precision
shRt sentences. Jays, crows and mag
pass also can Be taught.
BIRDS 40 IMIrAToRs
Fsw people know that only wild
birds, hand reared from a very early
age. arc educated by man in song and
speech. The catbird has been taught
to mimic the chirps and trills Of its
companions, bluejays have been taught
to reproduce the song Of the cardinal
% well that the listener Is deceived,
and European Jays have learned from
eockatoos to say. ''how do you do,
pretty Polly?" and a number Of whis-
ties and calls. Marked success has
attended experiments with the imita-
t1on theory. A few observers have
heard wild birds initiate the barking
Of dogs and mechanically produced
sounds, such as the creaking of a
wheel, the filing Of saw and the like.
The whippoorwill, cuckoo, bobwhite,
Jay, chuck, Wills widow, killdeer and
dicklind do not merely tell US their
names, but some of their songs may
be syllabif1ed to the satisfaction of the
human ear, although opinion will yary
as to what they say. Some say the
guinea fowl cries come back" others
insist on ''pot-a-rack," and still others
hear only "buckwheat" as its call.
Besides his own name, the bluejay cries
''phe-phay," wake up" come out, in
most energetic fashion. The native
notes Of the brown thrasher resemble
those Of the mocking bird, only they
are even more sweet, rapid and varied,
but the mocker can cry like hurt
chicken and can make such close imi-
tations Of other birds as to deceive not
only man, but the birds also.
Robins chirp cheer up. cheer up"
the woodpecker stops his hammer to
csy wish, wish" while the flicker says
squich, quich" and "wee chew-wee
ehee" like the swishing Of willow
wands or boughs. The quail seems to
~, "pay thy debts. pay thy debts, F"
~ In Garmany II n thought to cry.