

LANGUAGE. 255 



We may mention the shrill harsh scream of the 

 -king-fisher and of the dipper (Cinclus aquations, 

 BECHSTEIN), which, so far as our observation goes, 

 is repeated every time these birds take wing. It 

 may, perhaps, as they are almost always seen in 

 pairs, be meant as a signal-note to the mate, an 

 explanation rendered more probable by the rapidity 

 of their flight, which carries them in an instant to a 

 great distance along a stream, so that without some 

 such watch-call they might soon be separated. This 

 call is not unlike the sound of a stick drawn rapidly 

 across the uprights of an iron railing, and comes on 

 the ear so quick and transient, that it is impossible to 

 catch a view of the bird by trying to follow the 

 sound*. 



It is ingeniously, and, as we think, correctly, re- 

 marked by Mr. Knapp, that " as Nature, in all her 

 ordinations, had a fixed design and fore-knowledge, 

 it may be that each species had a separate voice as- 

 signed it, that each might continue as created, dis- 

 tinct and unmixed ; and the very few deviations and 

 admixtures that have taken place, considering the 

 lapse of time, association, and opportunity, united 

 with the prohibition of continuing accidental devia- 

 tions, are very remarkable, and indicate a cause and 

 original motive. That some of the notes of birds 

 are a language designed to convey a meaning, is 

 obvious from the very different sounds uttered by 

 these creatures at particular periods ; the spring 

 voices become changed as summer advances, arid 

 the requirements of the early season have ceased : 

 the summer excitements, monitions, informations, are 

 not needed in autumn, and the notes conveying such 

 intelligence are no longer heard. The periodical 

 calls of animals, croaking of frogs, &c., afford the 



* J.R. 



