268 VOICES OF BIRDS. 



lovers, and all the various amatorial and caressing 

 language of others, excites no influence generally, 

 that I am aware of; with all but the individual 

 species it is a dialect unknown. I know but one 

 note which animals make use of, that seems of 

 universal comprehension, and this is the signal of 

 danger. The instant that it is uttered, we hear 

 the whole flock, though composed of various spe- 

 cies, repeat a separate moan, and away they all 

 scuttle into the bushes for safety. The reiterated 

 a twink twink " of the chaffinch is known by 

 every little bird as information of some prowling 

 cat or weasel. Some give the maternal hush to 

 their young, and mount to inquire into the jeo- 

 pardy announced. The wren, that tells of perils 

 from the hedge, soon collects about her all the 

 various inquisitive species within hearing, to survey 

 and ascertain the object, and add their separate 

 fears. The swallow, that shrieking darts in de- 

 vious flight through the air when a hawk appears, 

 not only calls up all the hir undines of the village, 

 but is instantly understood by every finch and 

 sparrow, and its warning attended to. As nature, 

 in all her ordinations, had a fixed design and fore- 

 knowledge, it may be that each species had a sepa- 

 rate voice assigned it, that each might continue as 

 created, distinct and unmixed : and the very few 

 deviations and admixtures that have taken place, 

 considering the lapse of time, association, and op- 

 portunity, united with the prohibition of continuing 

 accidental deviations, are very remarkable, and in- 



