LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS. 285 



memory and attachment to mankind are more 

 strongly implanted by Nature than in others, 

 more particularly in the dog, horse, and ele- 

 phant. 



The Language The tunter ma 7 g ain fres k insight 

 into the nature and character of ani- 

 mals, by their cries under different circumstances 

 which express their various desires and emotions, 

 as all have certain calls and utter peculiar sounds 

 denoting pleasure, sorrow, maternal affection, 

 connubial attachment, anger, rage, alarm, and 

 fear. In former days there were men who pro- 

 fessed to understand the songs of birds; and 

 often as I have listened to the merry songsters of 

 the wood, or to the exquisitely plaintive melody 

 of the turtle-dove as he wooed his bride, I have 

 thought that it was quite possible to learn much 

 of their language by watching their actions, and 

 paying attention to the manifold accents of their 



long streets, with lines of nests on each side at regular dis- 

 tances, from each other. The tree selected is generally the smooth- 

 barked acacia. 



