"  Sweetness  of  voice,"  says  he,  "  and  melody  of
song  are  qualities,  which  in  birds  are  partly  natu-
ral, partly  acquired.  Their  great  facility  in  catching
and  repeating  sounds  enables  them  not  only  to
borrow  from  each  other,  but  often  to  copy  the
inflexions  and  tones  of  the  human  voice,  and  of  our
musical  instruments.  Is  it  not  singular,  that  in  all
populous  and  civilized  countries,  most  of  the  birds
chant  delightful  airs,  while  in  the  extensive  deserts  of
Africa  and  America,  inhabited  by  roving  savages,
the  winged  tribes  utter  only  harsh  and  discordant
cries,  and  but  a  few  species  have  any  claim  to  me-
lody? Must  this  difference  be  imputed  to  the
difference  of  climate  alone  ?  The  extremes  of  cold
and  heat  operate,  indeed,  great  changes  on  the  nature
of  animals,  and  often  form  externally  permanent
characters  and  vivid  colours.  The  quadrupeds,  of
which  the  garb  is  variegated,  spotted,  or  striped,  such
as  the  panthers,  the  leopards,  the  zebras,  and  the
civets,  are  all  natives  of  the  hottest  climates.  All
the  birds  of  the  tropical  regions  sparkle  with  the
most  glowing  tints,  while  those  of  the  temperate
countries  are  stained  with  lighter  and  softer  shades.
Of  the  three  hundred  species,  that  may  be  reckoned
belonging  to  our  climates,  the  peacock,  the  common
cock,  the  golden  oriole,  the  king-fisher,  and  the  gold-
finch, only  can  be  celebrated  for  the  variety  of  their
colours ;  but  nature  would  seem  to  have  exhausted
all  the  rich  hues  of  the  universe  on  the  plumage  of
the  birds  of  America,  of  Africa,  and  of  India.
