The Yellow Warbler i 97 



brown thrasher upon the ground, and I thought I could do him 

 a service by placing him upon a limb. When I tried to do so 

 it gave a "squawk" and instantly the parent birds came, and 

 they gave an alarm to which it seemed to me all the birds of 

 the vicinity responded and such a show of fight as they did 

 make ! On another occasion I had been tramping down Fall 

 Creek and when I got to Buzzard's Roost I was very tired. I 

 lay down on the grass under a hornbeam to rest and in doing 

 so must have come very near to the nest and young of a yellow 

 warbler, although I was not able to find it. Immediately a 

 pair of them gave the alarm and instantly the bushes about 

 me were full of all kinds of birds some of which I had never 

 seen before. In my collection of clippings, I find one, by whom 

 written, I know not, which well says, "Every species of bird 

 has a peculiarity of voice possessed by no other. By this va- 

 riety of vocal endowment, birds are not only distinguished 

 above the rest of the animal creation, but are able to express 

 to one another their wants and passions. There can be no 

 doubt that this power of communication exists not only be- 

 tween the sexes but between all individuals of the same spe- 

 cies. The least experienced observer of nature knows that 

 the approach of danger is expressed by a universally in- 

 telligible cry; which, if uttered by the wren, for instance is 

 understood by the turkey cock and vice versa. Of whatever 

 species the one may be which first perceives the approach of a 

 bird of prey, it is able to excite the attention of all birds in the 

 neighborhood by its peculiar cry of warning." 



