A JOLLY OLD CROW 187 



quaintance with the first arrivals after a 

 winter's absence, he amused himself by hiding 

 and watching the movements of flocks of crows 

 which were passing. There were numerous 

 crows passing by, all bound in the same direc- 

 tion. They did not come in large flocks, but 

 two or three at a time, and kept coming for 

 a considerable time. An old sentinel in the 

 top of a tall tree called, "Caw-caw, caw-caw, 

 caw-caw, caw," to each bunch that passed. 

 After watching them for some time and noting 

 that he gave the same signal every time, with- 

 out variation, the Naturalist became very anx- 

 ious to learn the meaning of this particular 

 signal, and the place to which it directed the 

 passing birds. 



After the sentinel had given his signal to a 

 passing bird and it had gone on for a little dis- 

 tance, the Naturalist gave three short, quick 

 notes, in imitation of one of their alarm sig- 

 nals, "Caw, caw, caw." The bird that had 

 passed, at once turned and came back, circ- 

 ling about in search of the source of the call. 

 Seeing nothing, he again started off in the same 

 direction in which he had been going. Again 

 the Naturalist called, and again he came back. 

 The third time he responded to the call and 



