THE NIGHTINGALE. 235 



air, that warble forth their curious ditties with which nature 

 has furnished them to the shame of art ; " but proud as they 

 may be of their own skill, they are not insensible to the har- 

 mony of musical instruments. The German hymn played 

 upon a flute very softly near a bush, in which there was a 

 nest, soon attracted the attention of the birds. Scarcely was 

 the air finished, than the cock was heard to chirp ; and when 

 played a second time it was seen to hop through the bushes 

 with great quickness towards the place where the player stood, 

 at the same time making a sort of sub-warbling, which it soon 

 changed into its usual beautiful and lengthened song. 



The Nightingale is usually supposed to withhold his notes 

 till the sun has set, and then to be the only songster left. 

 This is, however, not quite true, for he sings in the day, often 

 as sweetly and as powerfully as at night; but amidst the 

 general chorus of other singing-birds, his efforts are less noticed. 

 Neither is he by any means the only feathered musician of the 

 night. The Woodlark will, to a very late hour, pour forth its 

 rich notes, flying in circles round the female, when sitting on 

 her nest. The Skylark, too, may frequently be heard till near 

 midnight high in the air, soaring as if in the brightness of a 

 summer's morning. Again, we have listened with pleasure long 

 after dark to the warblings of a Thrush, and been awakened 

 at two in the morning by its sweet serenade. The Sedge- 

 warbler and Grasshopper-warbler may also be heard long after 

 sunset. 



Light, however, seems to be, in most cases, a regulator of 

 their song ; for in the case of the Skylark and Thrush, as it 

 occurred in the middle of June, there was a strong twilight, 

 and we have listened in vain for the Skylark's note beyond 

 the hour above mentioned ; though in the northern part of 

 Scotland and the Shetland Islands, still farther northward, 

 where in summer it is scarcely ever dark, they are heard 

 throughout the night singing; and again, to use old Izaak 

 Walton's words, " ascending higher into the air, and then for 

 a time ending their heavenly employment, becoming mute and 

 sad to think they must descend to the dull earth, which they 

 would not touch but from necessity." 



