18.01.2013 Views

The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

sing noise made by some nestling-birds. Audubon<br />

(25. 'Ornithological Biography,' vol. v. p.<br />

601.), relates that a night-heron (Ardea nycticorax,<br />

Linn.), which he kept tame, used to hide<br />

itself when a cat approached, and then "suddenly<br />

start up uttering one <strong>of</strong> the most frightful<br />

cries, apparently enjoying the cat's alarm and<br />

flight." <strong>The</strong> common domestic cock clucks to<br />

the hen, and the hen to her chickens, when a<br />

dainty morsel is found. <strong>The</strong> hen, when she has<br />

laid an egg, "repeats the same note very <strong>of</strong>ten,<br />

and concludes with the sixth above, which she<br />

holds for a longer time" (26. <strong>The</strong> Hon. Daines<br />

Barrington, 'Philosophical Transactions,' 1773,<br />

p. 252.); and thus she expresses her joy. Some<br />

social birds apparently call to each other for<br />

aid; and as they flit from tree to tree, the flock is<br />

kept together by chirp answering chirp. During<br />

the nocturnal migrations <strong>of</strong> geese and other<br />

water-fowl, sonorous clangs from the van may<br />

be heard in the darkness overhead, answered<br />

by clangs in the rear. Certain cries serve as

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!