10 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



not informed of the danger accruing to those who 

 eat their fish half cooked. The eggs, or even 

 encysted young, of parasitic worms are thus left 

 undestroyed, and only waiting to be introduced into 

 the alimentary canal of some highly organized 

 animal as man to complete their development. 



Wm. Wright Wilson, E.L.S., &c. 

 Birmingham. 



THE CHAT AND OTHER BIRDS : A 

 SUMMER'S STUDY. 



By Charles C. Abbott, M.D. 



I FIRST saw the Chat, last year, on Sunday, 

 May 9th. Erom the topmost branch of a tall locust 

 he sailed upwards and outwards for a yard or more, 

 with fluttering wings and dangling legs, uttering a 

 few harsh squeaks, aud then alighting, warbling a 

 sweet series of liquid notes, followed in turn by the 

 yelping bark of a puppy, the squeak of a squirrel, 

 or dull creaking of a rusty sign-board. Then, hop- 

 ping from twig to twig searching for insects, he 

 added his own peculiar chirp, alternated with low 

 yet distinct notes, quite indescribable, but all hol- 

 low, ghost-like, gloomy cries. These weird, mourn- 

 ful groans, plaintive calls, and cries as of some poor 

 creature in distress, would follow each other in 

 quick succession; then, suddenly ceasing, an out- 

 burst of glorious melody would complete the strange 

 series, and the restless bird, having regained his 

 perch upon the topmost branch, would remain quiet 

 for a moment, and then, with the same awk- 

 ward, crooked flight, repeat the same series of 

 strange and sweet notes, with some little varia- 

 tion, omitting some and adding other mimicry of 

 uncouth sounds. 



While I listened, wondering what strange sound 

 would next greet my ears, I was surprised, even 

 startled, by hearing them repeated, but at some 

 distance off. Another Chat, farther down the path, 

 is singing in the same strange way. Another it 

 must be ; for the one first heard is still in sight on 

 the locust, flitting carelessly about, but apparently 

 silent. Curious to hear the new-comer, I passed 

 on, when the sounds were heard in the opposite 

 direction. I retraced my steps, and now the strange 

 medley came from the low bushes about me, and I 

 looked carefully for the unseen Chat that seemed so 

 near, when again, from the locust overhead, the 

 series of odd sounds and sweet warblings came 

 floating down to me. 



The truth was now clear, the one bird had uttered 

 every sound I heard, and, by his ventriloquism, had 

 for the time completely deceived me. My study of 

 this habit and its use now commenced, and for long 

 weeks I watched him, to test, in every way, his 



ability to mislead one by the exercise of this peculiar 

 power. On the 13th a second Chat appeared, and 

 the two (for it was a female) quickly selected a 

 suitable site for the purpose, and, in a tangled mass 

 of blackberry briars at the foot of the tall locust, 

 they soon built a commodious but roughly - con- 

 structed nest. While his mate was sitting, the 

 male Chat seemed more animated than ever, and, 

 jealous of every intruder, " threw his voice " in 

 every direction other than towards the nest, if they 

 came too near. On concealing myself, and getting 

 very near, I found, by watching for an hour or more 

 at a time, that when undisturbed they uttered 

 fewer of the cries of other creatures, and seldom 

 exercised their ventriloquial powers. Their song 

 was varied and, at times, grand; but usually the 

 cheerful notes were so intermingled with hollow, 

 sepulchral tones as to render the entire utterance 

 far from pleasing. It could never be so startled as 

 to simply give a quick chirp of alarm and fly off. 

 However suddenly I appeared from my conceal- 

 ment, there was an equally quick uttering of notes 

 of distress such as I have described, coming, it 

 seemed, from a point several yards distant. Vary 

 my experiments as I would, it mattered not : the 

 bird was thoroughly conscious of its ventriloquial 

 power, and trusted far more to it than to flight to 

 avoid aud mislead its enemies. 



How came this bird to possess so unusual a 

 power ? I will leave it to others to determine, 

 making but a single suggestion with reference to it. 

 Having closely observed the habits of a pair of 

 these birds during the entire summer, I learned 

 that the habit is one eminently useful to the bird, 

 and, I think, possessed by the male only. This I 

 could not positively determiue. 



When it is recollected that many of our birds— 

 notably the Mocker (Mimus polyglottus) and Cat- 

 bud {G aleoscoptes carolinensis) — mimic not only the 

 notes of other songsters, but sounds of almost every 

 description, and that many gregarious birds post 

 sentinels to give alarm on the app-oach of an 

 enemy, it will be seen that the vocal powers of 

 birds are not simply brought into play for their own 

 satisfaction or that of their mates. During the 

 lapse of ages, they have learned, through experience, 

 something of the laws of sound, and know fully as 

 well as man does that a loud note can be heard at a 

 greater distance than one lowly murmured ; for 

 birds, when giving an alarm-cry, utter the note 

 much louder than their ordinary chirps or song, 

 which fact abundantly demonstrates the truth of 

 my assertion. This knowledge of sound, simple as 

 it is, is the starting-point for the acquirement, first, 

 of mimicry, which is the intermediate stage of 

 acquirement between ordinary vocal utterances, 

 including songs, and that ventriloquial power 

 which we have seen is possessed by the Chat. 



Now, as this bird imitates very many sounds, it 



