314 The Natural History of Selborne 



in a former letter, by a shrill alarm bespeaks the attention of the 

 other hirundines, and bids them be aware 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 perpetual clamour pre- 

 vents them from dispersing and losing their companions. 



In so extensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as much as can 

 be expected ; for it would be endless to instance in all the infinite 

 variety of the feathered nation. We shall therefore confine the 

 remainder of this letter to the few domestic fowls of our yards, 

 which are most known, and therefore best understood. And first the 

 peacock, with his gorgeous train, demands our attention ; but, like 

 most of the gaudy birds, his notes are grating and shocking to the 

 ear : the yelling of cats, and the braying of an ass, are not more 

 disgustful. The voice of the goose is trumpet-like, and clanking ; 

 and once saved the Capitol at Rome, as grave historians assert : 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 mis- 

 tress 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 disapprobation 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 



