232 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORMNE. 
rooks, in the breeding season, attempt sometimes in the gaiety of 
their hearts to sing, but with no great success ; the parrot-kind 
have many modulations of voice, as appears by their aptitude to 
learn human sounds; doves coo in an amorous and mournful 
manner, and are emblems of despairing lovers ; the woodpecker 
sets up a sort of loud and hearty laugh ; the fern-owl, or goat- 
sucker, from the dusk till day-break, serenades his mate with the 
clattering of castanets. All the tuneful Jasseres express their com- 
placency by sweet modulations, and a variety of melody. The 
swallow, as has been observed in a former letter, by a shrill alarm 
bespeaks the attention of the other hirundines, and bids them be 
aware the hawk is at hand. Aquatic and gregarious birds, 
especially the nocturnal, that shift their quarters in the dark, are 
very noisy and loquacious ; as cranes, wild-geese, wild-ducks, and 
the like; their perpetual clamour prevents them from dispersing 
and losing their companions. 
In so extensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as much as 
can be expected ; for it would be endless to instance in all the in- 
finite variety of the feathered nation. We shall therefore confine 
the remainder of this letter to the few domestic fowls of our yards, 
which are most known, and therefore best understood. And first the 
peacock, with his gorgeous train, demands our attention ; but, like 
most of the gaudy birds, his notes are grating and shocking to the 
ear: the yelling of cats, and the braying of an ass, are not more 
disgustful. The voice of the goose is trumpet-like, and clanking ; 
and once saved the Capitol at Rome, as grave historians assert : 
the hiss, also, of the gander, is formidable and full of menace, and 
“protective of his young.’”’ Among ducks the sexual distinction of 
voice is remarkable ; for, while the quack of the female is loud and 
sonorous, the voice of the drake is inward and harsh, and feeble, 
and scarce discernible. The cock turkey struts and gobbles to his 
mistress ina most uncouth manner; he hath also a pert and 
petulant note when he attacks his adversary. When a hen turkey 
leads forth her young brood she keeps a watchful eye ; and if a bird 
of prey appear, though ever so high in the air, the careful mother 
announces the enemy with a little inward moan, and watches him 
with a steady and attentive look; but, if he approach, her note 
becomes earnest and alarming, and her outcries are redoubled. 
No inhabitants of a yard seem possessed of such a variety ot 
expression and so copious a language as common poultry. Takea 
chicken of four or five days old, and hold it up to a window where 
