ANIMAL COMMUNICATION 



soon learn. In such matters the mother hen, no 

 doubt, guides them. 



A writer in " Forest and Stream, " who has since 

 published a book about his " wild friends," pushes " 

 this notion that animals train their young so far that 

 it becomes grotesque. Here are some of the things 

 that this keen observer and exposer of " false natural 

 history " reports that he has seen about his cabin in 

 the woods : He has seen an old crow that hurriedly 

 flew away from his cabin door on his sudden appear- 

 ance, return and beat its young because they did not 

 follow quickly enough. He has seen a male chewink, 

 while its mate was rearing a second brood, take the 

 first brood and lead them away to a bird-resort (he 

 probably meant to say to a bird-nursery or kinder- 

 garten) ; and when one of the birds wandered back 

 to take one more view of the scenes of its infancy, he 

 has seen the father bird pounce upon it and give it a 

 " severe whipping and take it to the resort again." 



He has seen swallows teach their young to fly by 

 gathering them upon fences and telegraph wires and 

 then, at intervals (and at the word of command, I 

 suppose), launching out in the air with them, and 

 swooping and circling about. He has seen a song 

 sparrow, that came to his dooryard for fourteen 

 years (he omitted to say that he had branded him 

 and so knew his bird), teach his year-old boy to sing 

 (the italics are mine). This hermit-inclined sparrow 

 wanted to " desert the fields for a life in the woods," 

 93 



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