BIRD LANGUAGE 113 



prejudice against these birds is still very general ; 

 but there are some few who are able to recognise 

 the fact that the slaughter of hawks and owls 

 is a mistake. By all means let the keeper's tree 

 be garnished with stoats, weasels, magpies, jays, 

 crows, and such-like hopeless sinners ; they are 

 altogether beyond the pale, and crafty to boot. I 

 cannot find it in me to extend the hand of mercy 

 to stoat or weasel, but though I invariably empty 

 a barrel at a magpie, jay, or crow, I do so with a 

 certain amount of regret. 



I think it must be allowed that birds have a 

 language of their own. One warning note from 

 the sentinel rook, and he and his sable brethren 

 are up and away in a second. Should the cause 

 of alarm be a man with a gun, they contrive to 

 keep just out of gunshot ; if, however, the gun 

 be exchanged for a walking-stick, the hurry is less 

 apparent. 



Blackbirds use different warning-notes for dif- 

 ferent objects. Thus, if the object be a man, 

 a dog, a stoat, or a cat, the note is varied. 

 A young and very intelligent keeper, at one 

 time in the employ of a friend of mine, was 

 so conversant with these as to be able to pro- 

 nounce with certainty what the object was which 

 had occasioned the alarm. My friend told me 

 that he had repeatedly proved the correctness of 

 his assertions by having seen him go in quest of 

 the animal and shoot it while he waited. 



Wild-ducks, where they are plentiful, play 



8 



