OF SELBORNE. 
257 
observed in a former letter, hy a shrill alarm, bespeaks tbe 
attention of the other Hirundines, and bids them be aware 
that 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 grav^ 
historians assert : the hiss also of the gander is formidable 
and full of menace, and ^' protective of his young.''' Among 
ducks the sexual distinction of voice is remarkable ; for while 
the quack of the female is loud and sonorous, the voice of 
the drake is inward and harsh, and feeble, and scarce dis- 
cernible. The cock turkey struts and gobbles to his mistress 
in a most uncouth manner; he hath also a pert and petulant 
note when he attacks his adversary. When a hen turkey 
leads forth her young brood she keeps a watchful eye ; and 
if a bird of prey appear, though ever so high in the air, the 
careful mother announces the enemy with a little inward 
moan, and watches him with a steady and attentive look; 
but, if he approach, her note becomes earnest and alarming, 
and her outcries are redoubled. 
No inhabitants of a yard seem possessed of such a variety 
of expression and so copious a language as common poultry. 
Take a chicken of four or five days old, and hold it up to a 
window where there are flies, and it will immediately seize 
its prey, with little twitterings of complacency; but if you 
tender it a wasp or a bee, at once its note becomes harsh 
and expressive of disapprobation and a sense of danger. 
