OF SELBORNE. 55 



loud croak, can exert a deep and solemn 

 note that makes the woods to echo ; the 

 amorous sound of a crow is strange and 

 ridiculous; 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 passeres express 

 their complacency 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 hir undines, and bids them be aware 

 that 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 per- 



