264t LANGUAGE OF FOWLS. 



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 dis- 

 gustful. 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 an- 

 nounces 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 immediately seize its 

 prey with little twitterings of complacency ; but 

 if you tender it a wasp or a bee, at once its note 

 becomes ' harsh and expressive of disapprobation 

 and a sense of danger. When a pullet is ready to 

 lay, she intimates the event by a joyous and easy 



