26 BIRDS 



surely see the old birds endeavoring to attract your atten- 

 tion away from the location of the young. You will hear 

 the protest and see the excitement of the parents when 

 you come near the hiding young birds. Then, if you 

 remain quiet, you will hear the youngsters calling their 

 faint, * ' peep, peep ! ' ' and, if you hunt carefully, you may 

 find the little fellows sitting on a limb near the body of 

 the tree, close to the ground, or peering at you from 

 behind a leaf or tuft of grass. 



The language of birds is expressed in a few words, 

 easily understood by their kind. Some of the sounds 

 uttered are like the Indian sign language, understood by 

 all birds of any species within hearing. 



The alarm note of the Robin, or the screaming of 

 the female Red-winged Blackbird as you disturb her 

 brood, instantly arouses every feathered denizen of that 

 vicinity to battle for a common cause, the protection of 

 the helpless young. The limited vocabulary of the Water 

 Turkey is in striking contrast wtih that of the Mocking- 

 bird or the Brown Thrasher, yet the former succeeds in 

 making itself understood by its kind, as I have frequently 

 witnessed while working in the bird rookeries of the 

 Everglades of Florida, 



Did you ever hunt Wild Geese I After manoeuvering 

 for a place of vantage on a flock of feeding geese, and 

 after crawling on your stomach for a half-mile, all the 

 while barely keeping your eyes above the grass, you hear 

 a signal from the old sentinel gander and see the whole 

 flock take wing in an opposite direction from your hiding- 

 place ; then you understand the goose language, and con- 

 clude that a goose is not such a goose, after all. 



The alarm-call of the barnyard hen, as she suddenly 

 ceases her scratching for her brood, sends all the 

 chickens, as a similar warning sends the wild birds, 

 scurrying to a place of safety. 



Many composers of the world's masterpieces of 

 music have tried to reproduce the songs of our best bird 

 musicians; their efforts have been notes of mockery 

 reproduced on instruments foreign to the delicately at- 

 tuned reeds or vocal cords of birds, and are as expres- 

 sionless as the monotonous tones of a bagpipe. One who 

 has heard the tones of the Wood-Thrush in the stillness 



