other less meaningful sounds. It appears to
me that they perceive in a way the sympathetic character of language and
therefore take a peculiar pleasure in copying it. It is hardly to be
believed that they ever get a sense of the connotative value of words,
but it is not to be doubted that they sometimes attain to a certain
appreciation of the denotation of simpler phrases. In this task they do
not exhibit as much sagacity as the dog, a creature which learns to
understand the purport of rather complicated sentences. Nevertheless,
their capacity for imitating speech is a fascinating peculiarity, one
which has greatly endeared them to bird fanciers.

Those who have observed the talking birds have doubtless noted the
fact that their capacity for remembering and uttering words varies
greatly. I am inclined to think that in the same species some
individuals can do such tasks several times as easily as others. If
these speaking forms could be brought to breed in captivity, and
something like the selective care were given to their development that
has been devoted to the varieties of pigeons, we might well expect to
attain very remarkable results. If anywhere in the animal world there
is a chance to open communication by means of speech with the lower
creatures, it should be here.

[Illustration: The Falconer's Favorite--Peregrine Falcon]

At one time among our ancestors it was accustomed to make much use of
the larger hawks in hunting. Curiously enough this amusement, more
refined and elaborated than any other form of the chase, has gradually
fallen into disuse among Europeans. So far as I have been able to learn,
the only region in which it is well preserved is in northern Africa, a
country in which the custom was probably introduced from Spain during
the occupancy of that peninsula by the Moors. From the literature of
this art of hawking, even after we allow much for the exaggeration of
unobservant men, it seems certain that the training of these fierce
birds was carried to a point of singular perfection. The creatures
learned to do their duty in a very skilful way, and they readily
acquired habits of obedience, under circumstances of excitement, more
perfect than those which we succeed in instilling in any animal but the
dog. When we consider the natural qualities of the hawk, and note that
when well trained he flew at only the designated game, and came back to
the master when a bit of hide or other lure was thrown into t