Birds of the Indian Hills 



Like all sociable birds, the black-throated 

 jay is very noisy. Birds have a language of 

 a kind, a language composed entirely of inter- 

 jections, a language in which only the simplest 

 emotions — fear, joy, hunger, and maternal care 

 — can be expressed. Now, when a considerable 

 flock of birds is wandering through a dense 

 forest, it is obvious that the individuals which 

 compose it would be very liable to lose touch 

 with one another had they no means of inform- 

 ing one another of their whereabouts. The 

 result is that such a means has been developed. 

 Every bird, whose habit it is to go about in 

 company, has the habit of continually uttering 

 some kind of call or cry. It probably does this 

 unconsciously, without being aware that it is 

 making any sound. 



In Madras a white-headed babbler nestling 

 was once brought to me. I took charge of it 

 and fed it, and noticed that when it was not 

 asleep it kept up a continuous cheeping all day 

 long, even when it was eating, although it had 

 no companion. The habit of continually utter- 

 ing its note was inherited. When the flock is 

 stationary the note is a comparatively low one ; 

 but when an individual makes up its mind to 

 fly any distance, say ten or a dozen yards, it 



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