30 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



where the growth of the young may become a 

 subject of daily enjoyment. 



Call Notes. The utterances of birds con- 

 sist of call notes and songs. All birds have the 

 former, but all do not sing. Call notes are the 

 language of the birds, by which very definite 

 meanings are conveyed and clearly understood 

 by one another. A great variety of emotions, 

 love, fear, hatred, jealousy, sorrow, etc., are 

 clearly expressed by them, if only we could 

 understand. Watch a pair of Robins as a cat 

 approaches their nest of fledglings and you will 

 have little difficulty in reading the story of the 

 tragedy from the emphatic utterances of the 

 distracted parents. The tender cooing of a pair 

 of Turtle Doves will leave little doubt in the 

 mind of the listener as to their ability to express 

 affection and endearment. The pleasant ripples 

 and gurgles that come to my ear in the early 

 morning from a box within a few feet of my 

 chamber window, which is the home of a pair of 

 Bluebirds, is good evidence to me of their ability 

 to give expression to the feelings of great fe- 

 licity and domestic happiness which pervade 

 their home, even though my dull ears are not 

 able to understand the details of their conver- 

 sation. The Sentinel Crow, posted on some lofty 

 lookout to guard the flock busily extracting the 

 kernels of corn which the farmer has so carefully 

 planted, conveys instantly a very definite mes- 

 sage as to the immanence of the danger when 

 the irate farmer appears, gun in hand. Equally 

 intelligent to his fellows, though less alarming, 

 is the signal he gives when you leisurely saunter 



