MID-AUTUMN ALONG THE OLD CANAL. 191 



"kah-kah kah-kah" At times, also, a kind of low. 

 chuckle or "pit " like sound was heard as though the 

 bird had suddenly thought of something pleasing and 

 was laughing to itself. 



The " per-a-ftody, pe-a-body, a-body, a-body" long 

 drawn out, of the white throated sparrow, mingled 

 with the much louder and harsher "che-wink" of the 



Fig. 39-Meadow Lark. (After Beal.) 



marsh robin or tow-hee came from the many brush 

 piles along the sides of the canal ; while the rapid 

 "rat-tat-tap" of a downy woodpecker upon a dead 

 snag furnished the bass for this medley of bird sounds. 

 Do the members of the different families of birds 

 understand and converse with one another ? It would 

 seem so, for whenever a cry of distress comes from a 

 wounded or frightened bird, species of widely different 



