The Speech of MonkeysGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
The Speech of Monkeys
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Monkeys; Sound production by animals; Speech
The parrot is perhaps possessed of the greatest vocal power of any other
bird. He imitates almost the entire range of sounds that are uttered by
all other birds combined, and can also imitate the sounds of human
speech from the highest to the lowest pitch of the human voice. In
addition to all this, he imitates many noises, such as the sounds of
sawing wood, the slam of a door, and the whistling of the wind. The
vocal range of the parrot is perhaps the most marvellous of all the
vocal products of the animal kingdom. One strange thing, however, that I
observe among them is, that the range of sounds that they use among
themselves is very small. I have made some records of parrots, macaws,
cockatoos, &c., and I find their natural vocal sounds usually wanting in
quality: most of their sounds are hoarse and guttural.
Among the gallinaceous birds there does not appear to be much music.
There is a great sameness of sounds in the different species, and they
seem to be confined to the economic use of speech.
In my early life I devoted much time to gunning, and I observed then,
and called attention to the fact, that when a covey of birds became
scattered I could tell at what point they would huddle. I could tell
this by the call of one bird and the reply of the others. The call-bird,
which was always the leader of the covey, would sound his call from a
certain point near which the other birds would usually assemble, and
during this time they would answer him from various other points. The
sound used by the call-bird is unlike that used by the rest of the
flock, but the sounds with which they reply to him are all alike, and
by observing this I could always find the covey again by allowing them
time to come together, especially if it was late in the afternoon.
Mr. Wood, of Washington, D.C., has given such attention to the sounds of
birds that he can interpret and imitate nearly all the sounds made by
domestic birds, and many of those made by wild birds. He has twice
confused and arrested the flight of an army of crows by imitating the
calls of their leader. His feats have been witnessed with astonishment
by many men of science.
[Sidenote: SOUNDS OF FISHES]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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