The Washington times., 1912-01-21
WOOD HAS LEARNED
!. HOW TO CONVERSE
IN BIRD LANGUAGE
National Museum Taxiderm-
ist Has Made 1t Study
=
NJ i, for Years.

1T 10 possible for a man to converse
with birds and fowls" This interesting
assertion was made this morning by
NELSON r. Wood, or the taxidermy de-
partment Of the National Museum.
Such conversation, however, Mr.
Wood says, cannot be carried on in
Nnglish. French or German, but in
Nones familiar to the feathered crea-
tures themselves. In explaining his as
Eertion Mr.. Wood says:
=, in my study of birds and fowls for
!: forty years I have learned wnat certain
sounds mean to them. 1t is impossible
10 say that a certain language Is used
by a certain breed Of fowl or bird but
It can be said with certainty that all
birds and fowls have limited vocabu-
larry Of their own.
The turkey when feeding has a note
sof conteDtment. When a hawk is sail
ting hundreds and hundreds of feet
above. q note of alarm Is given; when
the same hawk sweeps toward the
:. earth there is another note sounded
which emphasizes sudden danger, and
urges the young to flee Immediately for
safe hiding place. Then there is a
note calling the young out of hiding
after the hawk passss on his way
There Is still another note telling one
another Of the approach of danger on
the ground. such as a dog. cat or fox
sThere is note or caution, fear and
and anger"
Knows Their Sounds.
Mr.. Wood has studied the nature Of
birds and fowls SO closely that he
sknows these sounds perfectly, and can
Z make them SO cleverly that even birds
and fowls are deceived at hearing them
According to Mr.. Wood the turkey
has the greatest vocabulary of any
Fof the domestic fowls, and the pigeon
the smallest one. He explained that
mature has SO provided the turkey with
a greater vocabulary than any other
fowl or bird because he has more
enemies, and the pigeon the smallest
{, because 1t does not need an extensive
variety of sounds, being cared for with
. fleet pair Of wings which enables it
to dodge danger better than the turkey
L The plain old black crow is one Of
1.-The smartest Of them all, according to
Mr.. Wood. The king Of the field" as
the crow Is sometimes called. accord
most human intelligence and shrewd-
I ness. To explain this he gave an ex-
ample; For the past twenty-five years
WI. " OOO mas Deen SIdtlOneO at the
smuseum. He has always kept q black
tcrow in a cage in his work room and
sstudy. Yesterday he took a piece of
pound cake. showed it to crow he
had in a cage, then placed the cake in
an envelope and sealed 1t up. He then
s-Sthrew the envelope in the cage where
the crow was. The crow picked up the
envelope, tore 1t open and got the cake.
Made, Extensive Study. g..
Mr.. Wood has made such an extern
sive study of ornithology and taxider-
.my that he is able to understand the
es'language" of the birds: he knows
awhen they are happy, when they are
? distressed and when they are worried.
He can answer their notes. and they
sswill answer him In return. The Bob
White" will not hesitate to answer his
Scall and to fly to where the sound
comes from. The Bob White will an
Sswer bob white one or two times
for anyone, but sooner or later 1t will
understand the difference. But Mr..
a'Wood knows the call of this game bird
80 we'll that when he gives a sound or
4 iianswers one, he soon knows whether
or not the bird Is hungry, worried,
sctired, or has lost its mate. Mr.. Wood
5,says ornithology should be taught ex-
~Stensively in the schools, though he be-
.slieves a successful ornithologist is one
Awho has loved the birds and fowls from
childhood. ''-.