144 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



nicating its thoughts to its companions ; and, as we know 

 that they have a large range of utterances, is it not pre- 

 sumable that these are in large part the media by which 

 their thoughts are expressed ? We can only judge by the 

 same standard which we apply to man, and, when so 

 judged, it must I think be admitted that birds have a 

 spoken language. 



We have also seen that these various utterances are 

 only expressed when the bird is occupied, and that their 

 songs proper are only sung when the bird is quiet or giv- 

 ing its whole attention to the act of singing, for the fact 

 that they often sing while flying does not contradict this ; 

 and these facts, it is believed, are sufficient to show that 

 birds, like mankind, sing for pleasure and talk from ne- 

 cessity. 



My own observations have led me to this conclusion. 



