ON TAME NIGHTINGALES. 77 



that the young ones do not, for I have seen one long after that time ; 

 (July). Is it not that the bird being no longer heard is not noticed ? 



In Montagu's Ornithological Dictionary, 2nd edition, is the follow- 

 ing passage by the editor : 



"In the Edinburgh edition of Wilson's work, the first volume of 

 which I have just seen, Dr. Jamieson says in a note to the sea eagle 

 (F. ossifragus). ' This is the young of the Falco leucocephalus, or 

 white headed eagle, not the young of the F. albicilla, or cinereous eagle, 

 which is the sea eagle of Britain ;' he does not say upon what grounds 

 he has come to this conclusion, in opposition to the best authorities 

 upon the subject." 



Now Dr. Jamieson means, that the bird, described by Wilson under 

 the name of Falco ossifragus, is the young of the white-headed eagle, 

 and not that the English sea eagle, formerly described under the name 

 of F. ossifragus, is the young of the white-headed eagle. 



This is perfectly correct ; the similarity of the young of both species 

 has led to their being described as one bird, under the name of F. ossi- 

 fragus, which bird does not now exist, the English being the young of 

 the F. albicilla, and the American the young of the F. leucocephalus. 

 I have not seen the last edition of Montagu's excellent work, and 

 should this passage be omitted in it, of course it is needless to notice it 

 here. 



ON TAME NIGHTINGALES. 



BY ORNITHOLOGUS. 



IT has long been a subject of regret, that, among the various pub- 

 lications of the day, no periodical should have made its appearance, 

 exclusively devoted to natural history, wherein the observations of those, 

 whose attention is directed to the phenomena of nature, might be com- 

 municated to that portion of the public, who take an interest in one of 

 the most delightful and innocent studies that can occupy the mind of 

 a reflective being. This blank in our national literature has now been 

 supplied, and I beg leave to congratulate you, no less on the design of 

 your publication, than on the manner in which it is conducted. I am, 

 myself, an ardent admirer of nature's wonders, but my attention has 



