THE NIGHTINGALE. 285 



fruit in the autumn, being especially fond of raspberries. Perhaps it may choose this fruit 

 on account of the little white maggots that are so often found in the centre of the over-ripe 

 raspberry. When in captivity it can be easily tamed, and sings well ; but the capture and 

 domestication of a free singing bird always appears to me to be so heartless a business, that 

 I can never recommend any one to act in such a manner. 



As to the canary and bh'ds of that class, which have never known liberty, and would 

 be quite bewildered if they were to escape into the open fields, not knowing where to 

 obtain food or where to roost, it would be a cruelty not to give them the welcome shelter of 

 their accustomed home, provided that the cage be roomy enough for them to exercise their 

 wings, and they be well suppUed with food and water. But to imprison the restless nature 

 of the free wild bird in the midst of its hap]3iness, to take away the power of flight, to 

 remove it from its well-loved woods and fields, to take it away from its expectant mate, and 

 to imprison it within the narrow jjrecincts of a wire cage merely for the purjjose of grati- 

 fying our ears with its song, is really so refined a piece of selfish barbarity, that I can but 

 enter my strongest protest against it. 



The nest of the Blackcap is generally placed only a foot or so above the gi'ound, within 

 the shelter of a dense bush or tuft of rank herbage, and is composed of vegetable fibres and 

 hairs rather loosely pvit together. The eggs are four or five in number, and are of a pale 

 reddish-brown dappled with a deeper hue of brown. The general colour of the Blackcap 

 is grey, with a wash of dark green upon the upper surface and ashen grey upon the lower 

 surface. The total length of the bird is not quite six inches, its extent of wings nearly 

 nine inches, and its weight not quite half an ounce. 



The well-known and far-famed Nightingale is, happily for us, an inhabitant of 

 England, visiting us about the middle of April and remaining until the breeding season 

 is over. 



It seems to be rather a local bird, some parts of England appearing to be quite unsuited 

 to its habits. The northern counties are seldom visited by this bird, and in Ireland and 

 Scotland it is almost unknown. Attempts have been made to introduce the Nightingale 

 into different parts of England by substituting its eggs for those of robins and other small 

 birds, but although the young were regularly hatched and fledged, they all retired at the 

 usual season and never came back again. Perhaps, however, it really inhaljits localities in 

 which it has been said not to exist, and is not discovered simply because no one has taken 

 the trouble to observe it. For example : Devonshire and certain parts of Wales are said to 

 be among the localities which are unvisited by the Nightingale, but several letters have 

 appeared in the Field newspaper, wherein the constant presence of the bird in both thes'e 

 places is distinctly proved. It is at all times a hazardous matter to make an unconditional 

 assertion in the negative. 



It is very probable that the quality and drainage of the soil and the character of the 

 cultivation may have some influence upon the Nightingale, for it is well known that 

 certain singing birds which had previously been excluded from the northern parts of 

 England have advanced northward together with cultivation, and the Nightingale may 

 probably follow their example. 



The food of the Nightingale consists principally of various insects, and it is so power- 

 fidly attracted by the common mealworm, that one of these creatures employed as a bait 

 is sure to attract the bird to its destruction. It appears to make great havoc among the 

 caterpillars, which come out to feed at night, and are to be seen so abundantly on damp 

 waiin evenings. In the autumn it is somewhat of a fruit-eater, and has been seen in the 

 act of eating "black-heart" cherries, plucking them from the tree and carrying them to its 

 young. In captivity it is best fed upon mealworms, raw beef scraped with a knife and 

 given very fresh, hard-boiled egg and water, all mixed into a kind of paste. The idea, 

 however, of cagmg a Nightingale, seems so barbarous, that I shaU say nothing more on 

 that subject. 



As is well known, the song of the Nightingale is almost wholly uttered in the evening, 

 but the bird may sometimes be heard in full song throughout the day. Towards the end 

 of June, when the young birds are hatched, the song changes into a kind of rough croaking 



