LEARNING BIRD LANGUAGE 199 



tinctured with a faint hint of anxiety. If the male 

 still failed to answer, she immediately flew to the 

 region of the^nest and called again, this time a 

 call so filled with anxiety and excitement that it 

 constituted an alarm cry. So they talked every 

 minute of the time I worked around them. The 

 case is similar with almost any bird of bubbling 

 song of which I can think. Brown thrashers and 

 cuckoos are quieter. 



With most sparrows and finches, the call is, 

 "Chip," with cardinals the male calls, "Chip" 

 and the female frequently answers, " Chook." The 

 male robin calls, "Kip," and the female answers, 

 "Cut." Both quail use the same call, "Chet." 

 With doves the call and answer are "Coo." Wood 

 thrushes call, "Pit," and wood-peckers, "Kerr." 

 Crows call, "Caw;" king rails, "Gyck;" and shite- 

 pokes, "Couk." 



Some birds utter an elliptical call that can be 

 expressed only by the use of an apostrophe. Blue 

 jays have the same call and answer, "D'jay;" 

 kingbirds, "T'sheup;" blackbirds, "T'check;" sky- 

 larks, "Z'sst." 



With a large class, the call has two clearly de- 

 fined syllables. Blue herons call, "Ker-awk." 

 Both catbirds call, "Me-ow," and often, "Ma-a-ry ! 

 Ma-a-ry ! " Killdeers say, " Te-dit," and bluebirds 

 call, "Su-gar." These tribal calls are used ordi- 

 narily as a method of ascertaining the location of a 

 pair, and to assure each other that all is well. 



