336 NATURAL HISTORY 



can exert a deep and solemn note that makes the woods 

 to echo ; the amorous sound of a crow is strange and 

 ridiculous ; rooks, in the breeding season, attempt some- 

 times, in the gaiety of their hearts, to sing, but with no 

 great success ; the parrot kind have many modulations 

 of voice, as appears by their aptitude to learn human 

 sounds ; doves coo in an amorous and mournful manner, 

 and are emblems of despairing lovers; the woodpecker 

 sets up a sort of loud and hearty laugh ; the fern-owl or 

 goat-sucker, from the dusk till daybreak, serenades his 

 mate with the clattering of castanets. All the tuneful 

 Passeres express their complacency by sweet modula- 

 tions, and a variety of melody. The swallow, as has 

 been observed in a former letter, by a shrill alarm, 

 bespeaks the attention of the other Hirundines, and bids 

 them be aware that the hawk is at hand. Aquatic and 

 gregarious birds, especially the nocturnal, that shift 

 their quarters in the dark, are very noisy and loqua- 

 cious ; as cranes, wild geese, wild ducks, and the like : 

 their perpetual clamour prevents 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 trumpetlike, 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, 



