230 NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 



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 breeding season, attempt some- 

 times 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 clattering of 

 castanets. All the tuneful passeres express their compla- 

 cency by sweet modulations, and a variety of melody. The 

 swallow, as has been observed in a former letter, by a shrill 

 alarm bespeaks the attention of the other hirundines, and 

 bids them be aware the hawk is at hand. Aquatic and 

 gregarious birds, especially the nocturnal, that shift their 

 quarters in the dark, are very noisy and loquacious ; as 

 cranes, wild-geese, wild-ducks, and the like ; their perpetual 

 clamour prevents them from dispersing and losing their 

 companions. 



In so extensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as 

 much as can be expected ; for it would be endless to 

 instance in all the infinite variety of 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 disgustful. 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 



