How Animals Talk 



shoot two members of the flock he was supposedly 

 guarding, the rest were no sooner out of danger 

 than they whirled upon the recreant and beat 

 him savagely to the ground. 



If you are interested enough to approach any 

 crow-sentinel in a casual or indifferent kind of 

 way (he will take alarm if you approach quickly or 

 directly), you must note that his haw changes 

 perceptibly while you are yet far off. It is no 

 longer formal or monotonous; nor is it uttered 

 with the same bodily attitude, as your eyes plainly 

 see. You would pronounce and spell the cry 

 exactly as before (it should be written aw or haw, 

 not caw, for there is no consonant sound in it); 

 but if your ears are keen, they will detect an 

 entirely different accent or inflection, as they 

 detect different accents and meanings when a 

 sailor's casual or vibrant "Sail ho!" sings down 

 from the crow-nest of a ship. Now run a few 

 steps toward the sentinel, or pretend to hide and 

 creep, and instantly the haw changes again. This 

 time the accent is sharper even to your dull ears; 

 and hardly is the cry uttered when all the crows of 

 the unseen flock whirl into sight, heading swiftly 

 away to the woods and safety. 



Apparently, therefore, this simple haw of the 

 crow is like a root word of certain ancient lan- 

 guages, the Chinese, for example, which has sev- 



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