SOUNDS WHICH CONVEY MEANINGS 93 

 are not able to hear all of them. Among air- 

 breathing vertebrates I do not imagine there 

 exists any one that cannot, on occasion, pro- 

 duce some audible sound ; stiU, there may be 

 cases which have not come under notice. For 

 instance, the writer has no record in respect 

 to the jack-snipe (Scolopax gallinula). Though 

 silent throughout the winter months, it is very 

 unlikely that this bird is incapable of utterance. 



Though no actual language obtains in the 

 Animal World, there are expressions which 

 almost amount to it, sounds that convey 

 different meanings and which are acted upon 

 accordingly, albeit unconsciously. Thus, we 

 clearly distinguish call-notes, notes of alarm, 

 notes of pleasure, notes of distress, and again, 

 notes of joy. These latter, in the case of birds, 

 take the form of song, perhaps the most 

 wonderful exoteric expression of spiritual 

 beatitude in all nature. Furthermore, the 

 songs of birds are spontaneous and diverse, 

 according to species ; a phrase neither bor- 

 rowed nor acquired, but proceeding sponta- 

 neously and subconsciously from the Infinite, 

 which is Love, Beauty and Truth. 



The songs of birds— at any rate, some of 

 them— are distinctly melodious, and appeal 

 intensely to nature-lovers. This may arise 

 from the purity of such music, which links us 



