AND TURKEY. 243 



one saved the Capitol of Rome, as grave historians as- 

 sert : the hiss also of the Gander is formidable and full 

 of menace, and * protective of his young.' Among Ducks 

 the sexual distinction of voice is remarkable; for, while 

 the quack of the female is loud and sonorous, the voice 

 of the Drake is inward and harsh, and feeble, and scarce 

 discernible. The Cock Turkey struts and gobbles to his 

 mistress in a most uncouth manner; he hath also a pert 

 and petulant note when he attacks his adversary. When 

 a Hen Turkey leads forth her young brood, she keeps a 

 watchful eye; and if a bird of prey appear, though ever 

 so high in the air, the careful mother announces the 

 enemy with a little inward moan, and watches him with 

 a steady and attentive look ; but, if he approach, her 

 note becomes earnest and alarming, and her outcries 

 are redoubled. 



" No inhabitants of a yard seem possessed of such a 

 variety of expression, and so copious a language, as 

 Common Poultry. Take a chicken, of four or five days 

 old, and hold it up to a window where there are flies, and 

 it will immediately seize its prey, with little twitterings 

 of complacency; but if you tender it a wasp or a bee, 

 at once its note becomes harsh, and expressive of dis- 

 approbation and a sense of danger. When a Pullet is 

 ready to lay, she intimates the event by a joyous and 

 easy soft note. Of all the occurrences of their life, 

 that of laying seems to be the most important ; for no 

 sooner has a Hen disburdened herself, than she rushes 



