APPENDIX. 201 
Screech-Owl. (See p. 100.) 
Mr. Lowell, whose wont it is to see and hear the thing 
commonly overlooked, regards the cry of this owl as “one 
of the sweetest sounds in Nature.” 
Hen Music and Talk. (See p. 104.) 
“ As an example of bird language Mr. C. F. Holder says in 
‘Wide Awake’ that the ordinary domestic fowl presents the 
most interesting and perfect songs. Half an hour in a barn- 
yard will demonstrate that certain sounds are the equivalent 
of words. The crow of the cock is a challenge to another 
cock, and is not noticed by the hens; but let him find a 
delicate morsel and he stops crowing to utter a succession of 
short notes: ‘Tuck, tuck, tuck, tuck!’ at which the hens 
gather about him for their share of the dainty. 
“The different notes, or ‘ baby-talk,’ of the mother hen are 
of great variety, and mean quite different things. Every biddy 
understands that ‘chuck, chuck, chuck!’ means ‘Come home 
to your mother,’ just as the quick call, ‘tuck, tuck, tuck!’ 
means ‘come to your supper.’ Mr. Holder gives the follow- 
ing brief chapter of domestic fowl language from a dictionary 
too extended to present in unabridged form :— 
‘ Ur-ka-do-dle-do-o-o. Challenge of male. 
Tuck, tuck, tuck. Food call. 
K-a-r-r-e. Announcing presence of hawk. 
Cut, cut, ca-da-cut. Announcement of egg-laying. 
Cluck, cluck, cluck. Call of young. 
Kerr, kerr, kerr. Song of contentment of hen. 
C-r-a-w-z-z-e. Quieting young chicks. 
W-h-o-0-i-e (whistle). Expression of apprehension at night. 
C-r-a-i-ai-o-u, Terror and protest at capture.’” 
Newspaper clipping. 
