Vol. XXXVIIl , T t ■ ■'■ v • KQQ 



1920 Nichols, Limico.ine Voices. Oou 



Whether one calls them language or not, the calls of other 

 individuals of each kind of Shore Bird and associated kinds, are 

 unquestionably an important part of the life of every member of 

 the more social species, and one of the chief factors which direct 

 its behaviour. 



In the consideration of obscure details there is danger of omit- 

 ting the obvious thing which would be of most interest to some 

 readers. It is certain that an individual recognizes the flight- 

 note of its own kind as such, as who can doubt who has had a 

 Black-bellied Plover, too wary to come to decoys, yet circling 

 round and round anowering each imitation of its cry? As certainly 

 in some cases birds recognize the flight-notes of other species for 

 what they are, the Turnstone will decoy particularly well to the 

 whistle of the Black-breast, a species of similar habits to its own, 

 with which it likes to associate. 



From the point of view of general contour and of habits (and 

 taking the characters which separate the Limicolse from other groups 

 as criteria) the Plovers are our most generalized end, and that of 

 Gallinago the most specialized end of the series here considered. 

 Without assuming that this superficial viewpoint corresponds with 

 the true philogeny of these birds in any way, it is to be expected 

 that the notes, which are intimately related to habit, will be most 

 readily classified in a parallel manner. The analogies between 

 dissimilar notes and lack of analogy between certain evidently 

 homologous notes of related species, implies that these <"alls are 

 not stereotyped for each, but in process of change in a manner 

 allied to that cf human language. Studied mostly in migration, 

 all species seem to have primarily a flight, identification or adver- 

 tisement note, calls less loud and striking, and sometimes still 

 louder and more ringing notes, allied to, but with less definite 

 application than the identification note. It is my hypothesis 

 that there is a more or less definite evolutionary tendency for 

 lesser calls to replace the flight-note, which becomes still louder 

 and far-reaching as it loses particular value and becomes less 

 frequent. 



By this hypothesis, the differing but evidently homologous 

 flight-notes of the Plovers (Black-bellied, Ring-necked, Kildeer, 

 Golden) correspond to the "kik-kyu" of the Turnstone, which 



