224 LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 



kind, is quite mute,* though some are rather silent. The lan- 

 guage of birds is very ancient, and like other ancient modes of 

 speech, very elliptical ; little is said, but much is meant and 

 understood, f 



The notes of the eagle kind are shrill and piercing ; and 

 about the season of nidification much diversified, as I have 

 been often assured by a curious observer of nature, who long 

 resided at Gibraltar, where eagles abound. The notes of our 

 hawks much resemble those of the king of birds. Owls have 

 very expressive notes ; they hoot in a fine vocal sound, much 

 resembling the vox humana, and reducible by a pitch-pipe to a 

 musical key. This note seems to express complacency and 

 rivalry among the males ; they use also a quick call and an 

 horrible scream ; and can snore and hiss when they mean to 

 menace. Ravens, besides their loud croak, can exert a deep 

 and solemn note that makes the woods to echo ; the amorous 

 sound of a crow is strange and ridiculous ; rooks, in the breed- 

 ing season, attempt sometimes, in the gaiety of their hearts, to 

 sing, but with no great success ; 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 daybreak, serenades his mate with the clat- 

 tering of castanets. All the tuneful passeres express their 



* Mr John Thomson of Hull says, " Some tench, which I caught in 

 ponds, made a croaking like a frog for a full half hour, whilst in the 

 basket at my shoulder. " It is well known that when the herring is just 

 caught in the net, and brought into the boat, it utters a shrill cry like a 

 mouse. The gurnard grunts or croaks when taken and freed from the 

 hook ED. 



f Mr J. Murray says, " I once heard the cuckoo's note at midnight. 

 This occurred some years ago, as I was coming from Charleton to Douglas, 

 in the Isle of Man. It was moonlight, and I enjoyed a delightful walk 

 en solitaire, my reveries being frequently interrupted by this interesting 

 note, unusual, if I mistake not, for the ' witching hour.' " Mr W. H. 

 White says, " During the summer of 1830, the days were wet and chilly, 

 and the nights clear and calm, so that the night was in fact more pleasant 

 than the day ; so much so, that I frequently went out after supper, and 



,.... 1 majesty,' 



about the witching hour of night,' both the cuckoo and the nightingale ; 

 and on the 9th was highly gratified in hearing a trio, with all the native 

 melody of the grove, performed by the cuckoo, the nightingale, and the 

 sedge-warbler, a little after midnight." ED. 



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