Cries of the Day and Night 



the same crows that in a wild state may occasion- 

 ally be heard whistling like a jay, or "barking" 

 or "hooting" or making some other call which 

 ordinary crows do not or cannot make, and which 

 shows an individual talent of mimicry. This last, 

 which I have repeatedly observed among wild 

 crows, is a very different matter from speech; 

 but from the fact that these mimics learn to use a 

 few English words more or less intelligently one 

 might not be far wrong in concluding that every 

 crow has in his brain a small undeveloped nest of 

 cells corresponding to our "bump" of language. 

 A closer observation of the wild birds may 

 confirm this possibility. Thus, when you hear a 

 solitary crow in a tree-top crying, "Haw! Haw!" 

 monotonously, dipping his head or flirting his tail 

 every time he repeats it, you may be sure that 

 somewhere within range of his eye or voice a 

 flock of his own kind are on the ground, feeding. 

 That this particular haw is a communication to his 

 fellows, telling them that the sentinel is on watch 

 and all is well, seems to me very probable. There 

 are naturalists, I know, who ingeniously resolve 

 the whole phenomenon into blind chance or acci- 

 dent ; but that does not square very well with the 

 intelligence of crow nature as I have observed it; 

 nor does it explain the fact that once, when I 

 avoided the sentinel and crept near enough to 



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