BRAKE NIGHTINGALE. 329 



parture, this species, Thrush-like, feeds on several sorts of small 

 and juicy berries ; those which tarry latest especially, for I 

 have seen Nightingales in the neighbourhood of Paris as late 

 as the 15th of September, or about a month later than the 

 period chosen by the young birds to migrate toward their win- 

 ter quarters. 



" In its general disposition, the Nightingale might be said 

 to be of a quiet nature ; but during the love season I have 

 oftentimes seen two males contending not only for a female, 

 but also for the exclusive right to a certain district, which they 

 were both equally desirous of appropriating to themselves. 

 Their warfare however produces no bloodshed. Indeed, like 

 loud-talkers, who never come to blows, they usually settle the 

 affair without pecks, but with much pomposity of action, and 

 he who surpasses his antagonist in this, is sure to maintain his 

 ground, while the other sneaks away, humbled and crest-fallen. 



" The flight of the Nightingale is smooth, swift, generally 

 even, but of short extent, after it has once settled for the season. 

 Unlike true Warblers, Vireos, or Flycatchers, it never launches 

 forth on wing after its prey, but frequently, as is the habit of 

 both Thrushes and at times also Vireos, it is wont to move 

 along the branches, peep under the leaves, and snatch the in- 

 sects suited to its appetite. 



" The young of the Nightingale bear a considerable resem- 

 blance to those of the Garden Fauvette, and I have seen the 

 latter not unfrequently sold in the markets for Nightingales. 

 But the person who has any knowledge of the differences that 

 exist between the two species, w^ill at once see, even at this 

 early age, that the bill of the true bird is much larger, and that 

 its tail, however short it may yet be, shews a dull red tint 

 never seen on that of the Fauvette. Again, w^hen the Nightin- 

 gale has become of age, the female is often palmed upon the 

 unknowing as a male, and I have often been amused by seeing 

 how carefully the vender of the female bird had darkened her 

 prison with a green cloth, under the pretence that this species 

 seldom sings unless in dai-kness. Now, Reader, it has been my 

 fancy to keep many Nightingales in my youth, and although 

 I never employed any trappings about their cages, they never 



