Cries of the Day and Night 



to test bird nature in a strange land, I invited the 

 hunter to hide with me in a thicket while I gave 

 the call which had so often brought the feathered 

 folk of my own New England woods. At my cry 

 a wisp of birds whirled in to light at the edge of 

 the covert; the Italian's gun roared; and then I 

 discovered that the wretch was killing skylarks. 



I have since had many an uncomfortable mo- 

 ment at the thought of how many lovely songsters 

 may have paid with their lives for that ungodly 

 experiment; for my companion hailed me as a 

 master Nimrod from the New World ; and when I 

 refused, on the plea of bad luck, to teach him the 

 call, I heard him give a distressingly good imita- 

 tion of it. Yet the experiment seemed to prove 

 that everywhere birds quickly catch the contagion 

 of excitement ; that in many cases they respond to 

 a call because it stirs their anger or curiosity rather 

 than because it conveys any definite summons for 

 help or warning of danger. 



When you open your ears among the beasts 

 you hear precisely the same story; that is, certain 

 cries apparently have definite meaning, like the 

 accented haw of a crow, while others convey and 

 also spread a wild emotion. Of all beasts, the 

 wolves are perhaps the keenest, the most intelli- 

 gent, and these seem to have definite calls for food 

 or help or hunting or assembly. Such calls are 



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