BULLETIN No. 34. 5 



to determine. 1 afterward toLind an empty nest about fifty 

 yards from where the birds were taken. 



On April 28th, 1900, 1 secured anotlier male in the same 

 field, about two hundred yards from where the other specimens 

 were found. This was a smooth, clean bird and probably had 

 not \et found a mate. Thus ends my experience with the 

 Bachman's Sparrow. 



Some other time, 1 trust 1 may be able to write of this bird, 

 that it is " fairh' comnKjn " in DeKalb County, Georij;ia. 



ROBT. Windsor Smith, Kirkwood, Gcoygia. 



CROW LANGUAGE. 



While watchinjj; Corviis anicricanus. at all seasons of the 

 \ear and listening]; to their various cries, 1 have frequently been 

 impressed by the individuality shown in their most common 

 notes, no two birds appearino; to have voices exactK' alike, 

 whether found in pairs, small companies or .i^reat flocks. Per- 

 haps they are few collecting oologists who have not noticed the 

 dissimiliarity in the notes of the sexes about the nest. While 

 not doubting but that they possess a simple language of their own, 

 the difficulties of interpretation are greatly increased by tb.e 

 wide variation occasioned by this same individuality, hi saying 

 that the Crow probably possesses -a language, it need not be in- 

 fered that it is meant to assume that it has acquired conversa- 

 tional powers, but merely through the articulati(jn of a few 

 sounds it is able to convey to its own species its sense of pleas- 

 ure, fear, anger, etc., in other words a vocal code of signals 

 familiar to its associates. 



In my mind there is no question but that the manner of 

 utterance is of higher value than mere difference in note. A 

 note possesses various meanings according to the pitch and man- 

 ner of uttering it. It would be difficult if not utterly impossible 

 to discover and record the language or dialect of a savage tribe of 

 our fellow human beings merely by a stolen and occasional hearing 

 of scraps of conversations, then how much harder it would be 



