RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. A city here in Southern California is fighting crime with tweets - not social networking, real tweets by birds playing on speakers along the city's main drag. The Wall Street Journal posted online the soundscape - chirping robins, splashing water and faint musical notes. The mayor of Lancaster tells the Journal the birds put residents in, quote, "a better place." And though police say the causes are many, crime in the city is down. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.