n\tJi BLAHS. 105 



THE NTGTTTTNGALE, 



(Philomela luscinia.J 

 PLATE VII. FIGURE I. 



Tuis bird, the undisputed {jriiico of songsters, arrives in England about 

 tbc middle or end of April, the males reach our shores first, and the 

 females from seven to fourteen days later. It settles in most of the 

 southern, midland, and eastern counties, extending as far north as Yoi-k 

 and Carlisle, but does not visit the western districts, none being found 

 in Cornwall, Wales, or Ireland. But few individuals reach Scotland, 

 and although attempts have been made to introduce it into that country 

 by Sir John Sinclair, they have proved unsuccessful. 



On the Continent of Europe, the Nightingale is a summer resident 

 in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Holland, Sweden, and Denmark, and 

 has been found in Russia and Siberia. During the winter it has been 

 seen in Egypt, along the banks of the Nile, and also in North Africa 

 and Syria. The localities most frequented by this bird are woods, copse?. 

 and plantations, it generally prefers those where there is a thick under- 

 growth and a moist soil, it is also found among thick hedges ii' 

 sheltered situations, and in shady gardens. Some authors have affirmcii 

 that it delights in places where there is an echo, but although it may 

 sometimes be heard in such spots, it seems hardly probable that they 

 havi; been selected by the bird for that reason. 



The song of the Nightingale has been the theme of poets of all ages, 

 and prose writers seem to vie with each other in describing its charms 

 in the most rapturous and enthusiastic language. Of the latter few have 

 written more honestly and fervently than that sincere lover of all ani- 

 mated beings, Isaac Walton; he says "But the Nightingale, another of 

 my airy creatures, breathes such sweet loud music out of her little 

 instrumental throat, that it might make mankind to think that miracles 

 are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer sleeps 

 securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear aii-s, the sweet 

 descants, the natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of 



P 



