26o



not crow while its fellows were alive, and I fancy its crow is not

nearly so loud and shrill as were those of the males. It is well

known that a solitary female of some species will sing ; the

common Virginian Grosbeak is a familiar example. I feel, there¬

fore, that the crowing of my supposed female, being a solitary

bird, does not necessarily disprove my suggestion that, under

normal conditions, the crow may be a distinctive sign of the

male.


On referring to my Bird Journal, under the date of Feb¬

ruary 12th last, I find the following entry :—“ A double whistling

scream is their most common note, sometimes a single scream—

longer, sharper, and louder. The war-cry is quite different, and

means murder.” I cannot recall to mind this war-cry, so must

be content with the simple extract. It does seem silly, but the

Society is to blame, for giving me so much work to do that often

I am unable to post up my own Bird Journals.


The only cry I ever hear now is the “ crow,” or “ double

whistling scream ” of the above extract. But it is now never

loud and shrill enough to be called a scream. What is this cry?

Is it a song, a call-note, or a crow of defiance ? Certainly some¬

times the latter. When one bird has been shut up, I have seen

another go to the outside of its house and crow at it in a way

that there was no mistaking. Yet very often one feels that it

must be the call-note. As I write this, I hear my Pitta in the

next room. It is not a crow of exultation, but mournful, as of

one who calls and there is no one to answer. This call is a kind

of double whistle, sometimes pretty frequently repeated, shrill,

resonant, unmusical, practically without variation, and in the

jungle might be heard at a considerable distance.


According to Jerdon (Vol. I. p. 504),—“ Its Singalese name

is said to be derived from its call Avitch-i-a ,pronounced slowly and

distinctly.” Doubtless this is my double-whistling note, but, if

I may judge by my own birds, the description is not good. It is

rather Who-ee ; zvho-ce-oo, pronounced rapidly, so rapidly some¬

times that the first note of the second whistle is lost in the

second, and the call becomes Who-ee ; whee-oo. There are two

quite separate sibilant whistles, the component parts of each

being slurred together, the emphasis in each being on the ce.

Jerdon adds “ Blyth was informed that it has a screeching note.”

Perhaps this is the single note I have referred to. Years ago I

had four Piping-Crows (GymnorhinaJ ; one old White-Back used

to belch forth (I can use 110 milder description) a single scream,

full of venom, malice, and hatred against a Bantam in the next



