94 EVOLUTION OF BIRD-SONG 



alarmed on account of its young. The jay employs 

 a high cah^ modulated, on the like occasion. The 

 blue jay of America {Cyanocitta cristai) is described 

 by Wilson as being a great mimic, and as uttering 

 cries like those of our jay, when alarmed. The 

 chough imitates the human voice well (4th ed. 

 Yarrell, vol. ii. pp. 15, 16). The nutcracker utters 

 as an ordinary note crah crah crah^ or cru cric cru ; 

 and Mr. Warde Fowler has seen it "croaking like a 

 small raven " {Summer Studies of Birds and Books, 

 1895). The starling utters as a vehement alarm, 

 and especially when its young are in danger, a 

 cry cah, closely like that of the rook and jackdaw, 

 and both sexes employ it. Young starlings in the 

 nest utter cries closely like, but less loud than those 

 of rooks of the same age. The starling has also 

 a note which seems to relate the species to the 

 thrushes : I allude to the high, squealing, and almost 

 toneless notes which, in the breeding season, nearly 

 always conclude its song -phrases, are sometimes 

 evidently uttered as a vehement call to the female, 

 and are very frequently accompanied by a flapping of 

 the wings. These notes are rarely uttered in the fall 

 of the year : in the vernal season they are most 

 persistent. I do not know of this cry being uttered 

 by any other of the Corvidce ; but the redwing 



