The Sheep-FluTce. 



23 



The Pee- wee is not a singer— Le is a talker. Lingering near his haunts, 

 the close observer soon learns that his notes are not mere caprice. He has 

 ideas, and he has learned how to express them with a single syllable. It is 

 difficult to decide whether this syllable is " kee " or "tee," but suppose the 

 former. Then'' Kee-e-kee'' seems to be a mere casual, unconcerned cry, 

 signifying as it were, " Here I am,'" " All rUjUr Excitement, either through 

 alarm or sport, is expressed thus " Kee, kee, kee,'' or " Kee, kee, kee, kee, 

 kee, kee," manv times repeated. This is not, however, the only syllable 

 used by our favourite. " Ko-lee " is another and a playful note. One bird 

 being sportively chased by another, sings out "Ko-lee! Ko-lee!" much as if 

 jokingly calling for the " Police ! Police! " A single gurgling note, " Igl," has 

 the quality of the magpie's song. " Kee," however, is the basis of the 

 language, and is pitched near E, though this varies with different individuals, 

 and even in the same individual it rises or falls somewhat less than a semi- 

 tone, according to the desired meaning. Thus, 





V- \7 



Kee 



Kee 



e! 



is emphatic, and calls for attention or denotes alarm, the second note having 

 a falling inflection and accented, as if in a final effort of expulsion. Simi- 

 larly, the single syllable " kee " may become " kee-eh," in which the second 

 part is sharpened half a tone. In the playful note " ko-lee " the order of 

 the tones is reversed, as follows : — 



lee : 

 lice . 



The syllable " Igl," or " pulp," or " pull-up," is pitched lower :— 



t 



:pi-p: 



or 



.fc± 



Lf/l (orPulp) ! 



Pvll - np > 



All these various notes, of course, have their special meaning according to 

 the occasion on which they are used, but they are rarely uttered from the 

 ground. Conversation is carried on during flight as well as when the birds 

 are perched on a tree or fence, or even while sitting on the eggs or brooding 

 the young. 



When he is terrified, our poor little friend is a pitiable sight. His wings 

 raised and trembling with excitement, his voice goes up about an octave, and 

 his cries are loud and in (luick succession. This alarm will summon other 

 birds, such as the soldier-bird and magpie. 1 have observed that this cry of 

 terror is common to a number of species, and this is probably due to the 

 fact that these species have some enemies and sources of danger in common. 



