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An accordionist spurred the crowd of about 150 to dance, clap or yelp bird caws in approval.

Blackbirds cawed from trees and flapped over block after block of destruction.

And yet I was surprised recently when a routine phone call to ask Mr. Kennedy for comment about another article was interrupted by a loud “caw” at the other end of the line.

Carrion crows can count out loud, effectively calling “one, two, three” as they caw, researchers report today in Science.

“That woman with the voice like the cawing of a crow and those shoulders like sides of beef?”