122 CLASS AVES. 



signs. The birds perfectly well understand each other, by 

 means of these natural cries. Thus the mothers perfectly com- 

 prehend the wants of their little ones, by their piping note of 

 appeal. The swallow chirps in her nest to her young ones, 

 and appears to hold conversation with them. When the hen 

 is alarmed for her chickens, she utters a cry of warning, and 

 they instantly come, and shelter themselves under her wings. 

 This first language is that of nature ; it expresses the passions 

 and wants that are felt. It is innate, depends on the organiza- 

 tion of the animal ; is the result of instinct, just like the accents 

 of grief, joy, surprise, and pleasure, which are equally observed 

 in men and quadrupeds : all animals have this language, which 

 serves, not for the communication of ideas, but of feelings ; 

 for their gestures and actions represent nothing but sensations. 

 The principal, and perhaps indeed, the only communication 

 which exists between us and the brutes, is one of feeling, not 

 of thoughts. They do not even understand our articulated 

 language. It is the tone, the action, the physical language, 

 which they comprehend. Menace an animal in the same manner 

 as you caress him, and he will not understand the difference. 

 The case of trained animals affords no exception to this re- 

 mark. It is by a powerful, too often by a cruel appeal to their 

 sensations, that they become habitually sensible to the meaning 

 of certain sounds. The domestic animals have many more 

 physical relations with man than moral j they study our cor- 

 poreal movements, the pantomime of our passions, our natu- 

 ral accents. The motions connected with their physical sen- 

 sations influence them most. They will not trust to the call of 

 pretended kindness, when they see the knife, or the club up- 

 lifted to destroy them. They are better acquainted with the 

 heart, than the mind of their masters ; because they are, as it 

 were, more material than intellectual, and feel rather than 

 reflect. 



Independently of this natural language, which is the mere 

 expression of physical wants, we may observe another sort 



