THE IMMORTAL NIGHTINGALE 243 



glitter of the glass with the sun on it, and in this case 

 the singing-bush of the bird was directly before the 

 window, at a distance of twenty-five to thirty feet. 

 The singer, motionless on his perch, had looked too 

 long on it, and the effect was such that even after two 

 hurting-blows on the glass his little brain had not re- 

 covered from its twist. Then came its third and fatal 

 blow. 



To return to the subject of the nightingales' curious 

 distribution in England. The facts appear to show 

 that practically the species is stationary with us ; that 

 it remains strictly within the old limits and in about 

 the same numbers. Bird-catchers, birds'-nesting boys, 

 and cats extirpate them round the towns ; but, taking 

 the whole country, we do not observe any great changes 

 such as we note in some other migrants — the swallow 

 and martin, for example, and among warblers, to name 

 only one, the lesser whitethroat. The conclusion 

 would seem to be that each season's increase is just 

 sufficient to make good the annual losses from all 

 natural causes and from man's persecution ; that 

 every bird returns to the exact spot where it was 

 hatched, and that no new colonies are formed or the 

 range extended. 



The practical question arises : Would it not make 

 a difference if the annual destruction through human 

 agency could be done away with ? I believe it would. 

 Each cock nightingale, we find, takes possession of his 

 own little domain on arrival, and, like his relation, 

 the robin, will not allow another to share it with him ; 



