NIGHTINGALE. 



105 



expectation. She sometimes seems to murmur within herself; and then her 

 song bursts forth full, deep, sharp, swift, drawling, trembling ; now at the top, 

 the middle, and the bottom of the scale. In short, in that little bill seems to 

 reside all that melody which man has vainly laboured to bring from a variety 

 of musical instruments. Some even seem to be possessed of a different song 

 from the rest, and contend with each other with great ardour." 



The Sedge Warblers {Calamodyta) are peculiar to the eastern hemi- 

 sphere. They frequent marshes, or live among the reeds on the banks of rivers, 

 or in low damp situations overgrown with brambles and underwood, among 

 which they creep with surprising quickness, and where, owing to their great 

 caution and shyness, they generally remain safely concealed. Their song varies 

 according to the species, and is sometimes imitative of that of other birds. 



Their chief food seems to consist of insects, worms, and slugs. Some build 

 their nest in bushes, while others suspend it between three or four adjoining 

 reeds, rushes, or the stems of aquatic plants. It is composed of moss and 

 grass, snugly lined with feathers and other soft materials. The eggs are four 

 or five in number. 



The True Warblers {Sylvia) are likewise only met with in the Old 

 World, where they migrate at certain seasons of the year from one climate to 

 another. They are usually seen in woods and thickets, in which they hide 

 themselves, flitting about with great swiftness when alarmed. Their food 

 consists principally of insects, for which they search with great activity among 

 the leaves and branches of trees and bushes ; they also feed on the berries of 

 the ivy, and other soft fruits. Some species usually place themselves on the 

 summit of a bush and pour forth at intervals their clear and well-defined notes, 

 others utter their song on the wing as they rise from the ground to a con- 

 siderable elevation in the air, and then return slowly to the spot from which 

 they started. 



