Wednesday, March 3, 2010

My-ren

I've been too busy to write recently, but I wanted to relate an interesting experience I had today while walking to school. I heard a siren start up somewhere in front of me and to my right -- I couldn't see it, of course, but I could tell by the Doppler shift that it was getting closer. In my subconscious, I also noted what sounded like an echo of the siren coming from behind me and to my left. I didn't pay much attention, because it wasn't very loud, until the siren cut off but the echo kept going. At this point, I suddenly realized that it didn't sound quite like an echo...and come to think of it, it sounded like it was coming from on top of a nearby telephone pole! But it too stopped after a second or two, and I still wasn't paying much attention... until the siren started up again, and with it the strange noise, and everything suddenly clicked and I realized what it was: it was a myna imitating a siren!

The realization caused me to do a double take, because that bird was really good! It was keeping almost perfect time and pitch with the ambulance, which crossed the street in front of me a few seconds later. I'm still not sure what to think. What do you call a myna imitating a siren? A my-ren?

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