ALARM-NOTES 29 



bushes and compel it to beat a hasty retreat. The 

 birds took no notice of the dog. 



The swallow doubles its common call -note clit 

 into clit-it when a hawk approaches. But I have 

 heard it utter precisely the same cry when its young 

 were attacked by a crow. I have noticed this 

 behaviour in swallows at Vancouver, B.C., as well as 

 in those of England. The common domestic pigeon 

 announces the arrival of a hawk or a hawk-like bird 

 by a peculiar puff or grunt, something like the sound 

 of the word oof ; but it employs the same sound 

 when disturbed by a man at night. The common 

 cock, when alarmed by a bird flying over him, utters 

 a loud yell, as has been noticed ; but, if approached 

 by a bird or other animal upon the ground, he 

 almost invariably utters a cackle of surprise. 



It appears, then, that certain birds utter particular 

 cries to express great fear, whether the fear be 

 caused by the actual presence of a much -dreaded 

 enemy, or by an erroneous impression received from 

 the similar movements of some other creature. But 

 we are not at present in a position to assert that 

 any particular enemy is announced by any particular 

 cry. There is, however, no occasion to doubt that 

 parent birds, partly by means of cries as well as by 

 deportment, educate their young in a knowledge of 



