336 ZOOLOGY. 



bird of very plain plumage, light brownish grey above and white on the 

 lower parts of the body, native of the whole of Europe as far north as 

 Sweden, all Asia as far as Siberia, and northern Africa, everywhere 

 choosing its residence in shady woods, thickets, or even hedges in the 

 fields. It is also partial to thickly set orchards and gardens, and is 

 supposed to have a great preference for the neighborhood of its birth. 



The nightingale is migratory, and appears in northern Eui'ope about the 

 middle of April ; and it is during the season of selecting his mate and 

 attending to the duties of rearing his young, that the male pours out that 

 incomparable song which has established him as the greatest of feathered 

 vocalists, beyond comparison. 



" The nightingale," says Dr. Bechstein (Nat. Hist, of Cage Birds), 

 " expresses his different emotions by suitable and particular tones. The 

 most unmeaning cry when he is alone appears to be a simple whistle, 'jiti;' 

 but if the syllable ' err is added, it is then the call of the male to the female. 

 The sign of displeasure or fear is 'fitt,' repeated rapidly and loudly before 

 adding the terminating 'err ;' whilst that of satisfaction and pleasure, such 

 for example as conjugal endearments, or on the occasion of finding a 

 delicate morsel, is a deep ' tack' which may be imitated by smacking the 

 tongue. 



" In anger, jealousy, rivalry, or any extraordinary event, he utters hoarse 

 and disagreeable sounds somewhat like a jay or a cat. Lastly, in the 

 season of pairing, when the male and female entice and pursue each other 

 from the top of a tree to its base, and thence again to the top, a gentle 

 subdued warbling is all that is heard. 



" Nature has granted these tones to both sexes ; but the male is par- 

 ticularly endowed with such very striking musical talents, that in this 

 respect he surpasses all birds, and has acquired the name of the king of 

 songsters. The strength of his vocal organ is indeed wonderful, and it has 

 been found that the muscles of his larynx are much more powerful than 

 those of any other bird. But it is less the strength than the compass, 

 flexibility, prodigious variety, and harmony of his voice which make it so 

 admired by all lovers of the beautiful. Sometimes dwelling for minutes on 

 a strain composed of only two or three melancholy tones, he begins in an 

 under voice, and swelling it gradually by the most superb crescendos to the 

 highest point of strength, he ends it by a dying cadence ; or it consists of a 

 rapid succession of more brilliant sounds, terminated, like many other 

 strains of his song, by some detached ascending notes. Twenty-four 

 diflferent strains or couplets may be reckoned in the song of a fine night- 

 ingale, without including its delicate variations ; for among these, as among 

 other musicians, there are some great performers and many middling ones. 



" It is true that the nightingales of all countries, the south as well as the 

 north, appear to sing in the same manner ; there is, however, as has beeh 

 already observed, so great a difference in the degree of perfection that we 

 cannot help acknowledging that one has a great superiority over another. 

 On points of beauty, however, when the senses are the judges, each has his 

 peculiar taste. If one nightingale has the talent of dwelling agreeably on 

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