LEARNING BIRD LANGUAGE 199 



tinctured with a faint hint of anxiety. If the male 

 still failed to answer, she immediately flew to the 

 region of the nest and called again, this time a 

 call so filled with anxiety and excitement that it 

 constituted an alarm cry. So they talked every 

 minute of the time I worked around them. The 

 case is similar with almost any bird of bubbling 

 Gong of which I can think. Brown thrashers and 

 cuckoos are quieter. 



With most sparrows and finches, the call is, 

 "Chip," with cardinals the male calls, "Chip" 

 and the female frequently answers, " Chook." The 

 male robin calls, "Kip," and the female answers, 

 "Cut." Both quail use the same call, "Chet." 

 With doves the call and answer are " Coo." Wood 

 thrushes call, "Pit," and wood-peckers, "Kerr." 

 Crows call, "Caw;" king rails, "Gyck;" and shite- 

 pokes, "Couk." 



Some birds utter an elliptical call that can be 

 expressed only by the use of an apostrophe. Blue 

 jays have the same call and answer, "D'jay;" 

 kingbirds, "T'sheup;" blackbirds, "T'check;" sky- 

 larks, "Z'sst." 



With a large class, the call has two clearly de- 

 fined syllables. Blue herons call, "Ker-awk." 

 Both catbirds call, "Me-ow," and often, "Ma-a-ry ! 

 Ma-a-ry!" Killdeers say, "Te-dit," and bluebirds 

 call, "Su-gar." These tribal calls are used ordi- 

 narily as a method of ascertaining the location of a 

 pair, and to assure each other that all is well. 



