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Valence, where the Nightingales were as bold and familiar as the Robins, frequently coming 
to within a few feet from me in order to feast on the insects which the spade turned up. 
The Nightingale is without doubt the special favourite amongst our British wild birds, not 
on account of its beauty—although it does not fail in that respect either in elegance of form 
or in colour—but owing to its wonderful power of song, which caused honest Isaak Walton 
to enumerate the bird amongst “those little nimble musicians of the air that warble forth 
their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art”; and to 
speak of it in the following terms :—‘ But the Nightingale, another of my airy creatures, 
breathes such sweet loud musick out of her little instrumental throat, that it might make 
mankind to think miracles are not ceased. He that at midnight, when the very labourer 
sleeps securely, should hear, as I have very often, the clear airs, the sweet descants, the 
natural rising and falling, the doubling and redoubling of her voice, might well be lifted 
above earth, and say, Lord, what musick hast thou provided for the Saints in Heaven, when 
thou affordest bad men such musick on Earth P” 
Only those who have had the good fortune to hear these birds when in the fulness of 
their singing powers can appreciate the charm which enters into the listener’s feelings when 
surrounded by a choir of these feathered songsters; a charm which is enhanced and 
impressed more deeply into the hearer’s enjoyment if the occasion be at night, when all other 
sounds are hushed and stilled, save the gentle soughing of the wind through the trees, which 
bears on its waves the music of the voices of the night. 
Unfortunately this bird’s gift of song has rendered it a great favourite amongst bird 
fanciers, and one of its chief enemies in this country has been that curse of the wild bird 
life of England, the lazy, hulking birdcatcher, who, until the Wild Birds Protection Acts 
came into operation, spread his net annually and captured the Nightingales in large numbers 
on their first arrival in England (when the males can be more easily taken), and sold them for 
high prices, according to the degree of their power of song. The late Mr. J. Gould, in his 
work on the “Birds of Great Britain,’ wrote very strongly against the practice, and said :— 
“No bird is so easily trapped, and no one is more difficult to keep in confinement; nine- 
tenths, at least, of those that are taken die within a month after their capture; while those 
that survive pass a miserable existence in a darkened prison, never again to chant over the 
drooping bluebell, or cheer the loiterer along the green lanes of our favoured island.” We 
trust, however, that the day for such a lament has passed, and that in the future the 
Nightingale, whose advent is alwuys looked forward to with pleasurable expectancy, may find 
in our land a sanctuary wherein she may rear her young in safety. 
For a few of the details in this paper I am indebted to Dr. Bowdler Sharpe’s “ Handbook to the Birds of 
Great Britain.” 
Educational Series.—No. 1.—OWLS. No. 2.—WOODPECKERS. No. 3.—STARLING. No. 4.— 
SWALLOWS. No. 5.—KINGFISHER. No.6.—OSPREY. No.7.—DIPPERS. No. 8.—NIGHTJAR. 
No. 9.—TITMICE. No. 10.—KESTREL. No. 11—PLOVERS. No.12.—TERNS. No. 13.—WAGTAILS. 
No. 14.—CHOUGH. No. 15.—_JAY. No.16.—SKUAS. No.17.—FLYCATCHERS. No. 18.—NIGHTINGALE. 
Others in course of preparation. 
Copies of the above may be obtained from the Society’s Publishing Department, Knowledge Office, 
326, High Holborn, W.C., or from the Hon. Sec., Mrs. F. E. Lemon, Hillcrest, Redhill, on the following 
terms :—Post free: three copies of any one number of the Series, 1d.; one dozen, 3d.; 100, 1s. 6d. 
Assorted packets, one copy of any six numbers, 2d.; one copy of any twelve, or two copies of any six 
numbers, 4d.; or 50 assorted numbers, 1s. Special terms for larger quantities, and to County Councils, the 
Constabulary, and Schools. 
The Society’s Publishing Office, Knowledge, 326, High Holborn, London, W.C. 1897, 
