BIBDS AND THE AKTS 105 



to-morrow ; and as to domestic fowls, from chicken to 

 old rooster, it is almost impossible to say what they have 

 not to tell you about all that is going on. But the subject 



is endless ! 



K. POTTER. 



May 4, 1901. 



NOTE. The old tales are true to science and life. The 

 pelican piercing her breast for her young symbolizes 

 the parental love of animals ; the salamander in the flames 

 the biological truth that the living creature burns its life 

 away but is not consumed ; the phoenix on its funeral 

 pyre the immortality of the species ; the sleeping beauty 

 the awakening of spring, and here is Mr. Potter one of 

 the polyglot heroes of the Arabian Nights ! No doubt , 

 the saying " a little bird told me " (see Tylor) is derived 

 from the old beliefs that privileged persons understand the 

 language of birds and beasts. 



THE ENGLISH MOCKING BIRD 



I was very much interested in your article on "The 

 English Mocking Bird " in the Spectator of May 25. The 

 starling has always been a favourite of mine from the time 

 when, as a boy, I used to listen to the male's varied song 

 and watch his swelling throat as he stood in all his glory of 

 iridescent purple and green just outside the hole where his 

 nest was built in an old chimney close to my bedroom 

 window. This part of his song is not a half -angry 

 challenge, as some songs are, but a bubbling over of the 

 delights and pleasures of living. He can, however, be 

 very plaintive at times ; and if his home be near a church , 

 he will sing you a curious air, ascending in the minor key, 

 distantly resembling a Gregorian chant. He can also, as 

 you state, tune his voice to surrounding sounds. At 

 Painswick, for instance, one of his favourite notes is 

 precisely the same as that given out by one of the high- 



