288 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



staying habit spread by example ? It may seem 

 a childish question to ask, but what of direct 

 communication of ideas? Here, certainly, Na- 

 ture has not been exhaustively interpreted. I 

 am not aware that any number of ornithologists 

 have studied bird-language as something sepa- 

 rate and apart from bird-song. Does it exist ? 

 How are we to determine ? I have long been 

 familiar with a man who has lived all his days 

 within sight and hearing of crows. He claims 

 to understand their language and can repeat the 

 "words" that make up their vocabulary. Cer- 

 tainly, they seem to talk, but do they ? Does 

 a certain sound made by them have a uniform 

 significance? Year after year I have listened 

 and watched, watched and listened, and won- 

 dered if my friend was right. He believes it. I 

 believe it. Is an ultimate positive assurance a 

 hopeless expectation ? Are there limitations to 

 ornithological interpretation? We know that 

 crows are cunning, and by their mother wit 

 have withstood the persecutions of mankind ; 

 we know that they have a wide range of utter- 

 ances and not one is intended to merely gratify 

 the ear, and yet we hesitate to say plainly that 



