54 NATURAL HISTORY 



as anger, fear, love, hatred, hunger, and the 

 like. All species are not equally eloquent ; 

 some are copious and fluent as it were in 

 their utterance, while others are confined 

 to a few important sounds: no bird, like 

 the fish kind, is quite mute, though some 

 are rather silent. The language of birds 

 is very ancient, and, like other ancient 

 modes of speech, very elliptical; little is 

 said, but much is meant and understood. 



The notes of the eagle-kind are shrill and 

 piercing ; and about the season of nidifica- 

 tion much diversified, as I have been often 

 assured by a curious observer of Nature, 

 who long resided at Gibraltar, where eagles 

 abound. The notes of our hawks much 

 resemble those of the king of birds. Owls 

 have very expressive notes ; they hoot in a 

 fine vocal sound, much resembling the vox 

 humana, and reducible by a pitch-pipe to a 

 musical key. This note seems to express 

 complacency and rivalry among the males: 

 they use also a quick call and an horrible 

 scream ; and can snore and hiss when they 

 mean to menace. Ravem, besides their 



