332 



INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



I 



of souLhern climes, and appears in England in April, the 

 arrival of the males preceding that of the females from ten to 

 fourteen days. It is by no means generally distributed. It 

 does not appear to frequent Cornwall nor Wales, and is rarely 

 heard to the north of Warwickshire ; it is consequently absent 

 from Scotland and the adjoining islands, and is altogether 

 unknown in Ireland. 



The song of woe,* which the poets have attributed to the 

 Nightingale, is entirely fanciful. To the solitary and senti- 

 mental muser, the notes may have seemed plaintive in the 

 extreme, and suggested the idea of the widowed bird mourning 

 for her mate. But the songs of birds are not the vehicle of 

 sorrow, but the expression of joy; and in most cases they 

 proceed from the male bird, either while wooing his partner, 

 or cheering her in the performance of her maternal duties. 

 The song of the Nightingale is the outpouring of joy, and not 

 of sadness, and is due mainly, if not exclusively, to the male. 



The beautiful golden-crested Wren (JS. regulus), the various 

 species of Titmice (^Parus), the vivacious and attractive 

 Wagtails {Motactlla), can onl}- be mentioned. To them suc- 

 ceed the Pipits (Anthus) frequenting the v/ood, the meadow, 

 or the coast, according to the different habits and food of the 



several species. They 

 lead by easy stages 

 to the True Larks, 

 which commence the 

 next group — those 

 which have the bills 

 conical. 



Before, however, 

 giving attention to 

 them, we would like 

 to pause for a mo- 

 ment on tropical 

 ' i jBiaces ^ birds remarkable for 



/<,3ilP^ their slender bills, J 



and hence spoken of 



Fig. 2G6.— Humming-bird 



by some writers by a 



" Here can I sit alone, unseen of anv, 

 And to the Nightingale's complaining notes 

 Tune my distresses and record my woes." 



Two Gentlemen of Vekona, Act. v. scene 4. 



