88 MIGRATION AND FLIGHT. 



seen this repeatedly in the Redstart and Flycatcher, 

 which, though carefully supplied with the same food on 

 which they have thriven for weeks before, and been 

 quiet and apparently satisfied with their lot, will, early 

 in September, begin to show great impatience, flying 

 about and striking against the bars of the aviary, and 

 usually dying, after a few days spent in ineffectual en- 

 deavours to escape. 



This year (1837) an instance came under our obser- 

 vation, rather at variance with what has been stated, in 

 the case of a Nightingale, reared from the nest in the 

 spring of 1835. It soon became tame, and was kept in 

 a cage till May, 1837, singing always in the winter from 

 Christmas till April, and feeding readily upon minced 

 pieces of meat, and meal-worms, and showing no symp- 

 toms of impatience at the usual period of migration. 

 It was silent the rest of the year. Last May it was 

 permitted to go out of its cage, which was hung up, 

 open, at the door of the offices. At first it returned 

 regularly in the evening to its cage, and was taken into 

 the pantry, and released again next morning. As the 

 season advanced, it sometimes stayed out all night, in 

 the shrubberies and pleasure-grounds, but if called by 

 any of the servants, whose voice it knew, would return, 

 and feed out of their hand. For a day or two, towards 

 the close of summer, it seemed rather uneasy, getting 

 into the coal-hole and cellar; but this soon wore off. 

 As the evenings got cool, in the autumn, it returned 

 again to its cage before nightfall, and was taken as usual 

 into the house. As the season still farther advanced, it 

 was to be permanently housed, and was expected to sing 

 again at Christmas. 



Other facts deserve attention, proving that mere cli- 

 mate is by no means, in all cases, the cause of these 

 periodical visits. Thus, some birds will, on the intro- 

 duction of a new system of cultivation, make their 

 appearance in countries where they were never seen 

 before. The Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) has followed 



