Cries of the Day and Night 



sends him flying away from it, according to its 

 message or import. 



That animal cries have a meaning is, therefore, 

 beyond serious doubt; but whether they have, 

 like our simplest words, any definite or unchanging 

 value is still a question, the probable answer being 

 "No," since a word is the symbol of a thought or 

 an idea; but animals live in a world of emotion, 

 and even our human emotions are mostly dumb or 

 inarticulate. I must give this negative answer, 

 notwithstanding the fact that I have learned to 

 call various birds and beasts, and that I can meet 

 Hotspur's challenge on hearing Glendower boast 

 that he can call spirits from the vasty deep: 



Why, so can I, or so can any man; 



But will they come when you do call for them? 



Yes, the birds and beasts will surely come if you 

 know how to give the right call; but I am still 

 doubtful whether among themselves their audible 

 cries are ever quite so intelligible as is their silence. 



This question of animal speech has received a 

 different and more positive answer, by the way, 

 from a man who has spent many years in persistent 

 observation of wild apes and monkeys. After 

 watching the lively creatures from his cage in the 

 jungle, attracting them by means of various fruits 

 and recording their jabber in a phonograph, he 



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