APPENDIX. 181 



Nightingale and his Rivals. — Contin. 



even the woods to echo with his melodious voice ; and this delightful bird, 

 scorning to be out-done, will not yield to any competitor, either of birds or 

 men. The Woodlark is his greatest antagonist, between whom there 

 sometimes happens such a contention for mastery, each striving to outvie 

 the other, that, like true-bred cocks, they seem resolved to die rather than 

 lose the victory. If the former carries it in stoutness and freeness of 

 song, so does the latter in his pleasing variety of soft, warbling, har- 

 monious notes, in which, to my fancy, none excels or is equal to him." — 

 Nat. Hist. Eng. Song-birds. London, 1779. 



For an account of the singing of a mocking-bird rival kept by Dr. 

 Golz of Berlin, see Nehrling, H. : North Amer. Birds, part i., p. 45. 



Note. — Darwin himself must acknowledge the faculty of song in this 

 talented family : — 



"A mocking-bird (Mimus Orpheus), caUed by the inhabitants Calandria, 

 is remarkable from possessing a song far superior to that of any other 

 bird in the country ; indeed, it is nearly the only bird in South America 

 which I have observed to take its stand for the purpose of singing. The 

 song may be compared to that of the sedge warbler, but is more powerful, 

 some harsh notes and some very high ones being mingled with a pleasant 

 warbling. It is heard only during the spring. At other times its cry ia 

 harsh and far from harmonious." — Darwin, 0. : Journal of Researches, 

 etc., p. 54. 



Mr. Minot says : — 



" I estimated that the nightingale had a most wonderful compass,* and 

 was the greatest of all bird vocalists, but with a less individual and 

 exquisite genius than our wood thrush." — Minot, H. D. : Eng. birds com- 

 pared with American. (Am. Nat., vol. xiv,, 1880, p. 563.) 



On the slopes of Olympus the song of the blue thrush 

 is often mistaken for that of the nightingale. — Birds of 



the Levant. {Eclectic Mag., n. s. vol. vii., 1868, pp. 114-119.) 



And was not the song thrush the rightful recipient of 

 Cowper's homage in his ode to the nightingale ? 

 See Index, Organist. 



1 A French observer, whose name cannot now be recalled, finds that 

 the nightingale's compass is rarely more than an octave. 



