MID-AUTUMN ALONG THE OLD CANAL. 191 



"kah-kak 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 "pe-a-body, pe-a-body, a-body, a-body" long 

 drawn out, of the white throated sparrow, mingled 

 with the much louder and harsher "che-win k" 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 

 scc'iu so, for whenever a cry of distress comes from a 

 wounded or frightened bird, species of widely different 



