Star.
London, England, 1830-05-22 00:00:00

BIRDS.

" The language of birds," says the late Rev. Gilbert
White, in his Natural History of Selborne,' "is very
ancient ; and, like other ancient modes of speech, very
elliptical ; little is said, but much is meant and under-
stood. The notes of the eagle kind are shrill and piercing;
and, about the season of nidification, much diversified, as
I have been 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 piten-pipe to a musical key. This note
seems to express complacency and rivalry among the
males ; they use also a quick call and a horrible scream,
and can snore and hiss when they mean to menace. Ra-
vens, 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 breed-
ing 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 clat-
tering of castenets. 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
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 ex-
tensive a subject, sketches and outlines are as much
as can be expected ; for it would be endless to in-
stance 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 clashing, and once
saved the capitol of Rome, as grave historians assert;
the hiss also of the gander is formidable, and full of me-
nace, 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, 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 active look ; but if he ap-
proach, 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 twittering. of complacency ; but if you
tender it a wasp or a bee, at once its note bcome harsh,
and expressive of disapprobation and a sense of danger.
When a pullet is ready to lay, she intimates the event by
a joyous and easy soft note. Of all the occurrences of
their life, that of laying seems to be the most important ;
for no sooner has a hen disburdened herself, than she
rushes forth with a clamorous kind of joy, which the cock
and the rest of his mistresses immediately adopt. The
tumult is not confined to the family concerned, but catches
from yard to yard, and spreads to every homestead within
hearing, till at last the whole village is in an uproar. As
soon as a hen becomes a mother, her new relation demands
a new language ; she then runs clucking and screaming
about, and seems agitated as if possessed. The father of
the flock has also a considerable vocabulary ; if he finds
food, he calls a favourite concubine to partake ; and if a
bird of prey passes over, with a warning voice he bids his
family beware. The gallant chanticleer has, at com-
mand, his amorous phrases, and his terms of defiance.—
But the sound by which he is best known is his crowing;
by this he has been distinguished in all ages as the
countryman's clock or larum, as the watchman that pro-
claims the division of the night. Thus the poet elegantly
,
styies him—
The crested cock, whose clarion sounds
The silent hours."

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Dl,►r 21.

The Court took undefended causes until eleven o'clock,
and then gave judgment in the case of

HUNTER AND OTHERS V.

This was an action on a policy of insurance in conti-
nuation of one for 5,0001. on one of four ships trading
to Singapore, Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, and other
places. The ground of defence had been that the vessel
in question touched at a port which was about 400 miles
out of the direct course, had taken on board goods, and
that she had subsequently been lost.
The COURT were of opinion that the port at which this
vessel had touched could not, according to the wording
of the policy, be held out as the proper course, the words
being, after naming the different ports, " and elsewhere."
The Plaintiff was therefore entitled to recover, and the
verdict must therefore stand for the whole sum (as we un-
derstood) of 2741. 14s.

CRIMINAL INFORMATION.
THE KING V. DURHAM AND WEITMACOTT.

Mr. C. F. WI 1. LI As rose to show cause against a rule
obtained on a former day by the Attorney-General, calling
on the Defendants to show cause why a criminal informa-
tion should not be filed against them as proprietors of the
Age, for publishing a libel on Mr. Holmes, Treasurer of
the Ordnance. This libel charged Mr. Holmes, with ob-
tainingan article to be inserted in the Courier which would
tend to lower the price of Greek funds. The learned counsel
said the court had granted the rule against Miss Durham,
' as proprietor, and Mr. Westmacott as printer, proprietor,
publisher, and author of the alleged libel. Miss D. was
proprietor of half the paper, but a gentleman named
Baylis had, since the 23d Nov. last, had a share, having
purchased it of her. Mr.W. had not since that time had
any controul over the paper, and was only one of the
editors at a stipulated salary. The Attorney-General,
in the case of the " King v. Bell," bad stated that be did
not wish to punish the rimer of a libel, or the proprietor
of a paper, if the writer's name was given up ; in this
instance the author of the alleged libel had been given
up, and that even before the application for the rule was
made ; but still the Attorney General made the motion
contrary to his statement in the case he (Mr. Williams)
had before alluded to. Mr.Westmacott had even stated
to the solicitors for Mr. Holmes, that if they would not
continue the prosecution against Miss Durham, he woul

take all the responsibility upon himself, and that he would
make no defence, but would suffer judgment to go against
him. As to the libel itself, it originated from mistake,
and an apology for the publication had the week after
appeared in the Age, in the same part of the paper as that
in which the offensive paragraph appeared. The pro-
prietors had also sent a letter to Mr. Holmes containing
an apology, with twelve copies of the paper in which the
apology was published. Mr. H. had circulated these
papers among his friends, and he thought he ought to feel
perfectly satisfied. Lady Strong, the wife of Mr. Holmes,
had received one of these papers in a party, and said she
thought a sufficient apology had been made,but that Mr.H.
was not of the same opinion ; she then inquired of Sir T.
Champneys what he thought of the subject, and the answer
given by Sir T. C. was, that he, " as a magistrate and a
gentleman, thought Mr. Holmes ought to be satisfied."
Sir Thomas had made an affidavit of this fact, and it
would show that the apology quite freed Mr. Holmes of
the imputation that he had caused the article to be in-
serted in the Courier, for the purpose of obtaining profit
by dabbling in the funds ; in fact, the apology stated that
the author was informed that Mr. H. does not deal in the
funds. Mr. Westmacott made an affidavit, contradicting
the whole of Mr. Scanlan's affidavit. It stated that the
conversation alluded to by Mr. S. had occurred in con-
sequence of a jocose paragraph appearing in the Age the
Sunday previous to the one the alleged libel appeared, and
and when Mr. S. met Mr. Westmacott, he said, " I sup-
pose you will have a slap at Billy Holmes again next
week ; he is a good fellow, and a particular friend of
mine, and I should be under a particular obligation if you
would not insert any thing against him ;" that this con-
versation did not in any way relate to the subject of the
libel. The affidavit concluded by denying the whole of
the statement made by Mr. Scanlan.
Mr. DENMAN, Mr. FOLLETT, and Mr. BACON,
severally addressed the Court in behalf of the defendants.
The ATTORNET•GENERAL, in reply, observed, that
no man with the feelings of a gentleman, could permit
such a libel, such a scandalous libel, to be published,
without resenting it. The Court would not refuse to
make the rule absolute because a Sir T. Champneys,who
called himself a magistrate and a gentleman (he did not
know who he was, but he supposed he was a particular
friend of Mr. Westmacott's), thought the apology made
ought to satisfy the party injured. There was perjury some-
where. Mr. W. had not sworn that he had no general
control over the Age, and if he were to escape to-day,
Miss Durham would escape over the water, and no re-
medy could be obtained against them. For Mr. Holmes
he would state that he considered the libel a scandalous
libel, and the apology an insulting apology. The Court,
he was sure, would never permit that system of breaking
a man's bead, and then giving a plaster in satisfaction.
The Judges deliberated ten minutes.
Lord TENTERDEN then said, there can be no doubt that
the libel is a scandalous one, and we cannot say that Mr.
Holmes ought to be satisfied with an apology. Under
these circumstances, we think Mr. Holmes ought to have
the rule made absolute, or discharged on the payment of
costs, whichever way he thinks proper, and we leave that
to his discretion.

Mr. DEN mA w rose a few minutes after the Court had
pronounced the decision, and said that the defendants
would, he was sure, be willing to pay the costs, if Mr.
Holmes thought proper to allow the rule to be dis-
charged.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL observed that he was sure
Mr. Holmes would not accept money from the parties.—
Rule made absolute.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, M*y 21.

DOE ON THE DEMISE OF THE RIGHT HON. LORD

TEY Nil A3l V. TYLER.

This was an action of ejectment, tried at the Sittings
of the last Term, and was brought for the purpose
of trying the validity of certain assignments made by
Henry, the twelfth Lord Teynhain, under which the de-
fendants became of certain property, formerly
belonging to the asynhued am family. Upon the trial it ap-
peared that the father of the defendant, who was related
to the Teynham family, married two of the sisters of the
twelfth Lord Teynham, owing to which he became pos-
sessed of the property in question, by the twelfth Lord
Teynham assigning it over to him.
It was endeavoured to be shown by the evidence given
in support of the plaintiff's case, that the Noblo Lord, at
the time he assigned the property, was not in a fit state
of mind to make such an assignment, and that in fact he
was induced to do so by arts practised on him, through I
the instrumentality of the defendant's father. This evi-
dence was met by the defendant, wbo allowed that Lord
Henry was, although not a very brilliant character, a very
sensible person, and perfectly capable of disposing of his
property in a correct and proper manner. One of the
modes of proving this fact was, by putting in the accounts
of a person named Fox, who was steward to Lord Henry,
wherein Lord Henry " discharged" those accounts. The
result was a nonsuit for the defendant.

Upon the trial this latter piece of evidence was re-
jected, and at the commencement of this term, Mr.
Sergeant Jones obtained a rule to show cause why this
evidence should not be rejected and a new trial granted.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE shewed cause against the rule.
The Court admitted that the evidence objected to
ought not to have been received, but they at the same
time decided, that independent of this evidence, which
they considered of no importance in the case, the weight
of evidence given upon the trial was greatly in favour of
the verdict, and therefore the rule for a new trial ought to
be discharged. In deciding as they did, the Court did
not think that they were doing the noble plaintiff any in-
justice, for he could, if he pleased, bring a new action for
ejectment.

As the Marquess of Londonderry was riding on horse-
back on Thursday evening, at a very quick rate, to his
residence in Park-lane, Piccadilly, followed by his groom,
his horse suddenly fell near Stanhope-gate. His groom
proceeded at full gallop to his Lordship's assistance, and
at the same instant another groom rode up in an opposite
direction. The horses of the two grooms came in colli-
sion with such violence as to knock each rider off his
horse, and they lay on the ground for some time in a
state of insensibility. Assistance was immediately pro-
cured, when it was discovered that the thigh of the Mar-
quess's groom was broken, and that be was also dread-
fully injured in the hip. The sufferer was removed to
St. George's Hospital. A coach was procured for the
other groom, and he was conveyed to his residence, dread-
fully bruised. The noble Marquess was enabled to pro-
ceed home, without haring sustained any particular
injury from his fall.
_ _ _

TORRINGTON.-A turkey hen, the property of Mrs.
Williams, at Pristioott, in this parish, has last week fi-
nished her period of incubation with 21 eggs of her own
laying, and may now be seen fondly strutting about the
farm-yard with the same number of chickens !
As a labourer was carrying a scythe over his shoulder
along the High-street, Cheltenham, on Wednesday morn-
ing, the edge of the instrument came in contact with a
little boy about ten years of age, and wounded him so
dreadfully that his nose was nearly severed from his face,
which is otherwise disfigured. •