16 Mr. J. Blackwall's Observations on the Notes of Birds, 



other through the medium of modulated sounds; the profi- 

 cient, in what, without any impropriety, may be termed their 

 language, can comprehend their various wants and emotions, 

 and can participate in all their little joys and sorrows, hopes 

 and tears : to him, the music of the groves is not a confusion 

 of pleasing tones merely, but the melodious interchange of 

 thought and feeling; which, though very limited and imper- 

 fect, still answers many important purposes, and contributes 

 materially to the happiness and preservation of species. Thus 

 birds that congregate and that live in society have usually a 

 regular watch stationed in some commanding situation, whose 

 note of alarm is understood by the whole community. Of the 

 truth of this observation, fieldfares and rooks furnish fami- 

 liar and striking instances. The shrill call of the swallow, the 

 harsh scream of the jay, the petulant cries of the various 

 species of titmouse, and the plaintive wailing of the flycatcher, 

 likewise intimate the approach of an enemy. The reiterated 

 cackle of the domestic hen after she has laid speedily an- 

 nounces the joyful event ; her cluck indicates that she has be- 

 come the mother of a flimily ; by a peculiar call she informs 

 her brood whenever she discovers anything suitable for food; 

 and her shriek is a warning against impending danger. What 

 is usually called the prating of poultry is expressive of satis- 

 faction and complacency. But it is needless to multiply ex- 

 amples, or to insist further on the many useful purposes to 

 which a familiarity with the language of birds may be rendered 

 subservient : it will suffice to remark, that this knowledge sup- 

 plies the means of making fresh discoveries, of correcting 

 numerous errors, and of removing many of those doubts and 

 difficulties that have arisen from the great similarity of some 

 species, and the peculiarities incidental to age, sex, and a 

 change of food or climate in others, without placing the ob- 

 server under the painful necessity of destroying life, — a re- 

 commendation which will be duly appreciated by every one 

 possessed of a humane disposition and a reflecting mitid. 



Having endeavoured in these few preliminary observations 

 to point out the gi*eat importance of attending to the notes of 

 birds, I shall now proceed to an inquiry into their origin, — 

 an inquiry well calculated to exercise the skill of the experi- 

 mentalist, and the ingenuity of the speculative philosopher, 

 though to the generality of mankind it may seem trivial and of 

 little moment. 



The only author that I am acquainted with, who has treated 

 this curious subject at any length, is the Honourable Daines 

 Barrington. In an essay entitled Experiments and Observations 

 on the Singing of Birds, published in the second part of the 



sixty- 



