232 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



rooks, in the breeding season, attempt sometimes in the gaiety of 

 their hearts to sing, but with no great success 1 ; 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 day-break, serenades his mate with the 

 clattering of castanets. All the tuneful passeres express their com- 

 placency by sweet modulations, 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 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 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 in- 

 finite variety of the feathered nation. We shall therefore confine 

 the remainder ot 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 

 mistress 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 



