28 BIRDS AND MAN 



the common species I am accustomed to look at 

 every day in England — thrush, starling, robin, etc. 



A different story has to be told with regard to the 

 language. To begin with, there are no fewer than 

 34 species of which no sound-impressions were 

 received. These include the habitually silent kinds 

 — the stork, which rattles its beak but makes no 

 vocal sound, the painted snipe, the wood ibis, and 

 a few more ; species which were rarely seen and 

 emitted no sound — condor, Muscovy duck, harpy 

 eagle, and others ; species which were known only 

 as winter visitants, or seen on migration, and which 

 at such seasons were invariably silent. 



Thus, those which were heard number 192. Of 

 these the language of 7 species has been completely 

 forgotten, and of 31 the sound-impressions have 

 now become indistinct in varying degrees. Deduct- 

 ing those whose notes have become silent and are 

 not clearly heard in the mind, there remain 154 

 species which are distinctly remembered. That 

 is to say, when I think of them and their language, 

 the cries, calls, songs, and other sounds are repro- 

 duced in the mind. 



Studying the list, in which the species are ranged 

 in order according to their affinities, it is easy to 

 see why the language of some, although not many^ 



