io6 The Field Naturalist' s Quarterly May 



(19) may be exemplified by the twitter of finches, and the 

 needle cries of tits, which serve to keep the wandering flocks 

 together and to express all the ordinary emotions of com- 

 radeship. Study of birds' language may possibly expand 

 these conversational notes into the largest part of the whole 

 subject : the great tit, for example, uses so many different 

 expressions that an article might be devoted to them alone. 

 The sociable cawing of the rooks and mewing of the gulls 

 fall under this head also ; and each would fill a chapter of 

 the Dictionary of the language of birds. Next there are the 

 call notes (20) — the whistle of golden plover, the weird cry 

 of the curlew, the honk of the wild geese, and scores of other 

 distinct sounds ; and lastly, the notes of warning (21), — the 

 plaintive " pee-ee " of the peewit, the " chak, chak, chak " of 

 the fieldfare, and the whimper of the redshank may serve as 

 instances. 



Thus it will be seen that although, for the sake of brevity, 

 I have sometimes lumped slightly variant classes of notes 

 under one head, there are twenty-one distinct sections of 

 the vocabulary of birds. It is impossible for one observer to 

 cover so large a field, and I have written this article in the 

 hope that some readers will send me notes on the subject. 

 From these and my own observations I hope to be able to 

 show some advance, when I next write on the subject, 

 towards a proper understanding of the language of birds. 



Below is appended a table, showing the order in which 

 notes should be arranged, with an instance of each for 

 example. 



Notes of Young. 



1. For food. Hissing note of young starlings. 



2. Anxiety. Loud chirp of young sparrows separated from parents. 



3. Fear. Loud " cheep " of chickens when alarmed by dog. 



4. Distress. "Screech" of young starling when handled. 



5. Menace. Young barn-owl clacks its bill. 



6. Content. Gentle cheeping of chickens under their mother. 



Notes of Parents. 



7. Call to young. Pleasant barking note of swan. 



8. Warning. " Chuck " of thrush. 



9. Content. Crooning note of hen over chickens. 



