ioo Virginian Nightingales 



any way whatever, but because in his bright and far- 

 sounding song he introduces a "jug-jug-jug," which 

 slightly resembles the same notes in a nightingale's. 



Like so many male birds, he is very much more 

 brilliant than the female, who, keeping only the 

 scarlet bill of her mate, is brownish red in the larger 

 part of her plumage, which is paler and browner on 

 her breast ; so that her red beak is more conspicuous, 

 and gives her an intemperate appearance. 



Seed eaters to a large extent, yet very gladly 

 devouring fruit and mealworms, Virginian nightingales 

 should not be kept on seed alone in cages. 



Perhaps only in large outdoor aviaries do the male 

 birds keep the really brilliant red of the wild state ; 

 and those that are caged in rooms more often than not 

 become very dulled in their colouring after they have 

 moulted. 



What sounds on the face of it improbable is the 

 fact that although I have never been to America, in 

 parts of which the Virginian nightingale is a native, 

 yet I have known these birds intimately in a wild 

 state — or shall we call it one of perfect freedom ? 



I had put a pair of these birds into a pheasantry, 

 situated in a wilder part of the flower garden where 

 there is a rockery, and, besides the large trees in 

 which the rooks build, a thick sprinkling of mountain 

 ash, laburnums, and thorns. 



The Virginians used to make attempts at nesting, 

 but they never seemed very much in earnest, so that it 

 came to my mind one day to open the door of the 

 wire pen where they lived and chance the rest. After 



