OBSERVATIONS ON THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 529 



sions by an inarticulate voice. Common sense and tlie most su- 

 perficial observations are opposed to the negative of this propo- 

 sition. But when a canary-bird warbles till it stuns us, or a 

 nightingale sings in the shadows on the fine nights of June, can 

 we follow and discover the significance of those modulations — now 

 sharply cadenced, now slowly drawn out, and ending with a trill 

 long and accurate enough to challenge the most skillful mu- 

 sician ? 



All the poets of every country have constantly sung of the 

 songs of Philomela. But their fervent and enthusiastic verses 

 cast little light on the value of the nightingale's song. It is 

 said that the male sings for the entertainment of the sitting 

 female, but there is no proof of the assertion. The note warning 

 of the approach of danger is easier to recognize. The bird utters 

 a short, hoarse cry, and repeats it with a succession of trrrSy trrre, 

 which is impossible to mistake. When we hear this cry we may 

 be sure that an enemy is near. Music gives way to a cry of dis- 

 tress and warning, and the female leaves her nest if the sounds be- 

 come piercing. AVhat do we know of the gobbling of the turkey, 

 which the whistling and the cries of children excite ? They are 

 doubtless responses to those challenges ; but what do they mean ? 



The crowing of the cock, recurring regularly at fixed hours, 

 has some signification, but we can not comprehend it. If on a fine 

 afternoon in autumn the cock crows, and repeats his strain be- 

 tween two and four o'clock, the countrymen in some places will 

 say there will be a fog on the morrow, and they are generally not 

 mistaken. Hens do not mistake his notes either ; when a leader of 

 the troop, coming upon a spot rich in food, utters his peculiar 

 chuckle, they run from all around to share the find with him. It 

 is evident that the cock has called them and they have understood 

 him. These facts indicate that there is some definite sense in this 

 inarticulate language; and examples of it, taken from other 

 groups, might be multiplied. 



The dog, intelligent animal as he is, manifests his affection on 

 meeting his master, with peculiar cries which vary with the in- 

 tensity of his joy. No one could confound these notes of pleasure 

 with those which he utters when he is angrily driving away a beg- 

 gar, or when he meets another dog of unpleasant appearance and 

 puts himself in the position of attack. 



An interesting study of the voice of the dog on guard may be 

 made in the country at night. If another dog barks in the dis- 

 tance, the house-dog answers in a peculiar manner. He gives a 

 few growls, stops, seems to listen, begins again, very often getting 

 answers ; and, after two or three interruptions, he terminates his 

 barking with abrupt yelps, loud at the beginning and long drawn 

 out, and gradually dying away. This ending of his cries is habit- 



TOL. XL. — SY 



