THE IMMORTAL NIGHTINGALE 249 



and probably a rabliit, is of more consequence to the 

 sportsman <jn the bench than a small, i)lain brown bird, 

 or than many linnets and goldfinches. The law, we 

 know, is effectual when it has a strong public feeling 

 on its side; the feeling is not yet universal and no- 

 where strong enough, or as strong as bird-lovers would 

 wish it to be, but it exists and has been growing during 

 the last half a century, and that feeling, supported by 

 the improved laws which it has called into being, is 

 having its effect. This we know from the increase 

 during recent years in several of the greatly persecuted 

 species. The goldfinch is a striking example. The 

 excessive drain on this species, one of the favourites of 

 the lover of birds in cages, had made it exceedingly 

 rare throughout the country twenty years ago, and in 

 many counties it was, if not extinct, on the verge of 

 extinction. Then a turn came and a steady increase 

 until it had ceased to be an uncommon bird, and if the 

 increase continues at the same rate for another decade 

 it will again be as common as it was fifty years ago. 

 This change has come about as a direct result of the 

 Orders giving it all the year round protection, obtained 

 by the county and borough councils throughout the 

 country. 



The nightingale has not so increased, nor has it in- 

 creased at all ; it is not so hardy a species, and albeit 

 an "immortal bird," and a "creature of ebullient heart," 

 it probably does not live nearly as long as our brilliant 

 little finch. Nor is it so prolific; morever it nests 

 upon or near the ground at the same spot year after 



