NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE 143 



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 there are flies, and it will immedi- 

 ately seize it's prey, with little twitterings of complacency ; 

 but if you tender it a wasp or a bee, at once it's note 

 becomes harsh, and expressive of disapprobation and a 

 sense of danger. When a pullet is ready to lay she inti- 

 mates the event by a joyous and easy soft note. Of all the 

 occurrences of their life that of laying seems to be the most 

 important ; for no sooner has a hen disburdened herself, 

 than she rushes forth with a clamorous kind of joy, which 

 the cock and the rest of his mistresses immediately adopt. 

 The tumult is not confined to the family concerned, but 

 catches from yard to yard, and spreads to every home- 

 stead within hearing, till at last the whole village is in an 

 uproar. As soon as a hen becomes a mother her new 

 relation demands a new language : she then runs clocking 

 and screaming about, and seems agitated as if possessed. 

 The father of the flock has also a considerable vocabulary ; 

 if he finds food, he calls a favourite concubine to partake ; 

 and if a bird of prey passes over, with a warning voice 

 he bids his family beware. The gallant chanticleer has, at 



