How Animals Talk 



or starlings, this also leads to a greater mystery. 

 The distance at which such a summoning call 

 can be felt by others must be straitly limited, else 

 would all the starving birds of a state be flocking 

 to my yard on certain mornings ; and the force by 

 which the silent call is projected is as unknown as 

 the rare mental ether which bears its waves or 

 vibrations in all directions. Yet the problem need 

 not greatly trouble us, since the answer, when it 

 comes, will be as natural as breathing. If siknt 

 or telepathic communication exists in nature, and 

 I think it surely does, the mystery before us is no 

 greater than that which daily confronts the as- 

 tronomer or the wireless operator. One measures 

 the speed of light from Orion; the other projects 

 his finger-touch across an ocean; but neither can 

 tell or even guess the quality of the medium by 

 which the light or the electric wave is carried to its 

 destination. 



