CHOUGH’S LANGUAGE. 117 
Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
Topple down headlong.” 
King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6. 
The chough is easily tamed, and a prettier sight than 
three or four of these birds, with their bright red legs and 
bills, strutting about on a.well-mown lawn, can scarcely be 
conceived. 
It is to be regretted that the species is not more 
plentiful and more generally domesticated. 
Instances, we believe, are on record of choughs being 
taught to speak, but Shakespeare appears to have 
entertained no great opinion of their talking powers. He 
speaks of 
“ Chough’s language, gabble enough, and good enough.” 
All’s Well that Ends Well, Act iv. Sc. 1. 
And probably there was a good deal more chattering: 
than talking, as we understand the term. 
“There be 
. . . lords that can prate 
As amply and unnecessarily 
As this Gonzalo ; I myself could make 
A chough of as deep chat.” 
Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 1. 
In Henry IV., in the scene where Falstaff, with the 
