Januaey 31, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



181 



ence occurred four or five times in the next 

 day or two and I began to regard it as 

 mysterious, never thinking of the birds in 

 such a connection. Some four days later 

 wliile watching the birds— I was in the room 

 with them— a chat came and alighted on 

 my shoulder and shrill in my ear sounded 

 the exact reproduction of the postman's 

 call. The very direction and distance 

 from which the call came and its exact 

 tone were reproduced. I heard it many 

 times afterward, friends and other mem- 

 bers of the family became familiar with 

 the call, and even after I was aware of it, 

 when I was expectant, I have heard the 

 postman, gone to the door and finding no 

 one, knew how realistic was the reproduc- 

 tion of the postman's call by a yellow- 

 breasted chat. 



One of a brood of red-winged black- 

 birds {A. phoeniceus) , a male, crows con- 

 stantly for all but two months in thfe 

 year. The crow is an imitation of the crow 

 of the common bantam rooster. Distance 

 and direction are clearly indicated. The 

 sound always appears to come from the 

 rear of the house, at some little distance, 

 and is a very clever imitation of the crow 

 of a bantam rooster. This is the only song 

 this bird has. 



A blue jay (C. cristata) reproduces the 

 song of the cardinal (C. cardinalis) so per- 

 fectly as to deceive any one. It is copied 

 from a cardinal in the room, and distance 

 and direction are not indicated. 



A European jay {Garrulus glandarius) 

 has learned from a cockatoo to say ' How 

 do you do, ' * How do, pretty poUy, ' ' Pretty 

 polly' and some whistles and calls. 



"Last summer on a Wisconsin farm there 

 was a duck hatched out with thirteen tur- 

 keys by a hen as a foster-mother. This duck 

 followed the turkeys aroiuid and wavered 

 a very long time before it went into the 

 water, and it stiH imitates the turkey's note 

 with its dtick voice. It sleeps under the 



turkeys' roost at night now, although it is 

 quite an old duck, and scorns the company 

 of the other duclcs on the plantation. This 

 interesting family is on th§ farm of Mr. 

 Clinton D. Stewart, whose post-office ad- 

 dress is Dousman, "Wisconsin. Mrs. Mer- 

 rick first called my attention to the duck's 

 turkey call; but I was not entirely satisfied 

 until I heard it myself." (Extract from 

 letter of Edwin T. Merrick, 836 Gravier 

 street. New Orleans, La., October 19, 1901, 

 to W. E. D. Scott.) 



This call of the turkey given by a duck 

 is of special interest as prajcocial birds 

 appear 'to have much less receptivity than 

 altricial birds. The reason seems obvious. 



In concluding a word is necessary as to 

 the probable reason why birds in confine- 

 ment diverge from the normal in the habits 

 of song. Presuming that wild birds are 

 pretty constantly employed in obtaining 

 a food supply, it would seem that they do 

 not have much leisure. On the contrary, 

 birds in captivity with all their physical 

 wants carefully looked after, have leisure 

 and employ it in giving their attention to 

 occurrences about them, particularly such 

 as are accompanied by any noise. 



Of this factor of leisure among animals 

 in confinement little is known, and a broad 

 field is presented for those investigators 

 who have opportunities in zoological gar- 

 dens or, better still, in special laboratories 

 equipped for this and kindred studies. 



William E. D. Scott. 

 Pbinceton University. 



MUSEUM STUDY BY CEICAGO PUBLIC 

 SCHOOLS. 



The Field Columbian Museum is often 

 visited by classes from the Chicago pub- 

 lic schools for purposes of instruction 

 obtained by stiidjdng the illustrations there 

 afforded of different subjects taught in the 

 schools. The character and value of such 



