THE NIGHTINGALE. 23 



should possess a tame pair of Nightingales I shall 

 certainly give them an opportunity of nesting if they 

 like. 



The Nightingale, it is almost superfluous to observe, 

 is a migratory species, that pays a visit to our shores 

 in the spring of the year, and deserts us again in the 

 autumn (when permitted to do so by the bird-catchers), 

 accompanied by its mate and young. As the males 

 usually arrive a day or two before the females, it is 

 probable that they only pair for the season, and not 

 for life as the more sedate Finches are in the habit of 

 doing. On their arrival, the cocks burst at once into 

 song, as if to guide the females on their way, or 

 possibly in rivalry of each other, and then it is that 

 the trappers are on the alert to encompass the poor 

 birds' destruction, or at the least their imprisonment 

 for the rest of their days. 



Anyone who has not had the privilege of studying 

 these birds intimately would, not unnaturally, arrive at 

 the conclusion that they were extremely wary and 

 circumspect, so deliberate and cautious are they in all 

 their movements, as they hop lightly about the ground 

 in search of food. Two steps are not taken consecu- 

 tively without a pause, during which the tail is jerked 

 in an upward direction and the points of the wings 

 are dropped until they almost touch the ground, while 

 the head is at the same time turned downwards, first to 

 one side and then to the other, until the large soft 



