50 THE CHIFF-CHAFF. 



a species with which I was unacquainted, and certainly not known as 

 British. I was accordingly not a little surprised when he told me it 

 was the Sylvia Hippolais of Bechstein, and astonished when he said it 

 was one of the finest song birds in Europe, very superior to the black- 

 cap and fauvette, and in some respects even to the nightingale. I 

 thence concluded that it was the species whose splendid song had 

 charmed and puzzled me in an orchard at Scheidam, in Holland, and 

 again in the gardens of Prince Maximilian at Neuwied on the Rhine ; 

 the rich intonation and multitudinous variety of the notes fully bearing 

 out my friend's opinion. This circumstance alone would go far to 

 prove that the species is not British ; for it would be impossible so fine 

 a song bird could be concealed, particularly as it haunts gardens, and is 

 rarely found in woods ; the very contrary of the statement of Temminck, 

 whose authority, how high soever it may be in other matters, is, with 

 respect to habits, and field observation, not of the slightest weight : 

 he might have seen the bird, if he had ever looked beyond his cabinet, 

 in most of the gardens about Leyden, where he resides. 



I kept the old birds with their young, which they fed in a cage for 

 some time ; but to my great regret they fell a sacrifice to the common 

 enemy of cage birds. About the same time T was delighted to find a nest 

 of the same species in a lilac-tree in my own garden, about half a dozen 

 yards from my parlour window. Three of the young, after leaving this 

 nest, were secured, and the mother was caught to feed them, which she 

 did successfully, and I brought them all and] three others home with 

 me to England. The nest was about seven feet high from the garden 

 level, and ten from the base of a law wall, over which the branch, 

 where it was built, leaned. The workmanship of the nest is very supe- 

 rior to that of the black-cap, coming nearer in character to that of the 

 finches. The frame- work is rather thick, made of dry grass stems, sew- 

 ing thread, fine wood shavings, birch-bark, and small pieces of linen 

 rag. The inside is very neatly lined with roots, hair, a few feathers, 

 and small locks of wool. 



The confusion which has arisen about this bird, seems to have ori- 

 ginated in the imperfection incident to descriptive language, and the 

 careless enumeration of synonimes. Even Savi (Ornitologia Toscana) 

 has utterly mistaken the bird, though he had before him the work of 

 Ranzani, where the mistake of Latham is pointed out. The correct 

 synonimes and description will stand thus : 



THE AnBOuK BIRD (Philomela polyglotta, RENNIE.) 



