OF SELBORNE 205 



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 breeding 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 day-break, serenades his mate with the 

 clattering of castanets. All the tuneful passeres express 

 their complacency 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 that the hawk is at 

 hand. Aquatic and gregarious birds, especially the noc- 

 turnal, 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 dispers- 

 ing and losing their companions. 



In so extensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as 

 much as can be expected ; for it wovild 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. At first the peacock, with 

 his gorgeous train demands our attention ; but, like most 

 of the gaudy birds, his notes are grating and shocking to 



