THE OREGON NATURALIST. 
THREE GERMAN SONGSTERS. 
THE NIGHTINGALE, THE SONG- 
THROSTLE AND THE FIELD-LARK 
[Translated expressly for the Oregon Natur- 
alist from the German of A. and K, Muller in 
-Die Garteniaube, by Angus Gaines, } 
Our German fathe:land, with its wealth 
of forests and streams, is the home of the 
best song birds in the world. It is the 
singing of these minstrels that gives such 
a charm to gardens, fields and forests and 
puts a soul into bounteous nature. 
From among these singers we will select 
three for our des ription, the Nightingale 
the Song-throstie aad the Field-lark, one 
a repres2ntative of the park, the other 
of the forest and the third of the field. 
The Nightingale, honored by the ancients 
#s the king of song birds, takes the first 
rank, for the best of the others are inferior 
to him in expression and in the variety of 
notes, Thisis not true of inferior speci- 
mens or of those reared in a locality where 
they are too numerous, bnt applies to the 
exceptionally talented singers that have 
brought their powers to the highest perfec- 
tion in solitude. Where a number of them 
sing together the spirit of rivalry makes 
them develop a preference for high perch- 
ing notes that weary the hearer by their 
monotony. Itis different with Nightin- 
gales that have grown up in solitude. 
Their song is distinguished by the number 
of its bars or strophes, of which there are 
frequently thirty or more. 
Over excit2zment in the season of love 
often checks the flow of the melody of the 
best singers. Again, in the early morning 
there is a tendency towards an interrupted 
song. Ina general way, however, it may 
be said that interrupted or fragmentary 
songs are peculiar to the close or the last 
half of the singing season,while the song is 
most rapid just after the return of the birds 
and attains its fullest, loudest and most 
161 
soulful tone while the female is brooding. 
Whether or not the song of the Nightin- 
gale is inherited is an interesting question. 
It is usually believed that the young Night- 
ingale learns the song of its fathers by hear- 
ing it repeated, but this is probably not the 
case for the singing is infrequent while they 
are being cared for, and when the song is 
heard it sounds incomplete and fragmentary 
In spite of this the young, Nightingale 
practices its lisping song on fine August 
mornings and attains its perfection in the 
southern spring. This, of course, does not 
preclude the possibility of its having the 
song of the old male for a model, but the 
main point is not in the imitation but in 
the capabilities, the developing of the song 
in the soul of the bird. 
Let us now quit the park, where we have > 
listened to the singer of love, and enter the 
beech-wood with its leafy corridors and 
young shrubbery. The young spring is 
returning, dormant possibilities awake, the 
creative power of Nature reveals itself in 
a thousand forms and figures, and the mag- 
nificient budding forest rings with the bursts 
of melody from the glad throats of the re- 
turning birds. 
‘*Forest Nightingales”’ is the beautiful 
and appropriate name which Welker has 
given to our native Song-throstle. In the 
nocturnal storms of March they return to 
their native woods. They still remember 
the tree, the branch and twig on which 
they sang of springtime and of love in the 
preceeding year. Whoever is acquainted 
in Schnepfenstrich knows what a charm 
the spring song of the forest minstrel has 
for the listener’s ear. It is an articulate 
cry that reaches the ear and it can often be 
interpreted into words and names. The 
people have translated many of its songs 
jnto words and these translations are al- 
ways fragments of fresh woods-poetry. 
We can never forget those evenings in 
Schnepfenstrich on which we listened to 
the concerts of the star singers of our for- 
ests when the male’s sang in rivalry, yie- 
