Blood red the sky and misty in the east Low vapours creeping bleakly o'er the hills The rain will soon come plashing on the rills No sound in all the place of bird or beast, Save that hoarse croak that all the woodland fills.

"Why not?" he asked in his harsh croak of a voice.

Its hoarse croaking, "What is it," "What is it," seemed to express deep-throated sympathy with the sounding operations.

The locusts hummed drowsily, as if they were almost asleep, and the frogs in the ponds sent out an occasional muffled croak.

She was a tall, well-made child, plump and fair, with rosy cheeks and sturdy limbs that would in themselves have given the lie to any dismal croakings; it was no wonder that "daddy's" eyes perpetually rested on her with a glow of pride.

With ointments compounded of dead men's flesh she could transform a lover into a beaver, or an innkeeper into a frog swimming in his own vat of wine and with doleful croak inviting his former customers to drink; or herself, with the aid of a little shaking, she could convert into a feathered owl uttering a queasy note as it flitted out of the window.

In the depths of the woods an owl raised its soft, regular cry, while from a pond on the right ascended a faint croaking of frogs, so far away that it sounded like the vibration of crystal.

From the marsh beyond the creek came the familiar croaking of the frogs; from the foothills in the cow-pasture came the shrilling of the crickets.

I have to fight my doubts away, And be on guard against my fears; The feeble croaking of Dismay Has been familiar through the years; My dearest plans keep going wrong, Events combine to thwart my will, But fighting keeps my spirit strong, And I am undefeated still!

She mocked, with a ludicrously feminine croak, the hoarse voice of a crow sailing over them.

Again that horrible cry rang out, dying down to a harsh croaking.

"Sergeant," he said in his harsh, hollow croak of a voice.

In the marshy districts of Brittany, one right enjoyed by the great nobles was "the silence of the frogs," which, whenever the lady was confined, bound the peasants to spend their days and nights in beating the swamps with long poles to save her from being disturbed by their inharmonious croaking.

There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the attention even of the most incuriousthey spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling on the ground.

The loud croaking of the Log-cock, the cackling screams of the Redheaded Woodpecker, and the solemn, tolling note of the Redbreast, blended with the occasional cooing of Turtle-doves, formed a sylvan charm, that made my winter-rambles, at this period, as interesting as any I ever pursued in summer or autumn.

A lizard set up a monotonous croak in the branches overhead, and insects and unseen things began to stir in the foliage.

so he sadly spoke, And voiced his woes in a mournful croak.

The ship, anchored in the commercial port, was dancing restlessly, tugging at its hawsers, with a mournful croaking.

The locusts hummed drowsily, as if they were almost asleep, and the frogs in the ponds sent out an occasional muffled croak.

Only the shrill chirp of the cicada and the muffled croaking of the frogs in some distant marsh broke the night silence.

I always looked for their pleasing croak in May by the trout stream, and invariably shot several while partridge-shooting in former years.

If he hear but a raven croak from the next roof he makes his will, or if a bittern fly over his head by night; but if his troubled fancy shall second his thoughts with the dream of a fair garden, or green rushes, or the salutation of a dead friend, he takes leave of the world and says he cannot live.

In solemn croak Thus one his hungry friend bespoke: 'Methinks I scent some rich repast; The savour strengthens with the blast; Snuff then, the promised feast inhale; I taste the carcase in the gale; 80 Near yonder trees, the farmer's steed, From toil and daily drudgery freed, Hath groaned his last.

Beneath, the shy and stately pickerel vanishes at a glance, shoals of minnows glide, black and bearded pouts frisk aimlessly, soft water-lizards hang poised without motion, and slender pickerel-frogs cease occasionally their submerged croaking, and, darting to the surface with swift vertical strokes, gulp a mouthful of fresh air, and down again to renew the moist soliloquy.

The general warbling continues, with now and then an interruption by the transient croak of the raven, the scream of the jay, or the pert chattering of the daw.