THE NIGHTINGALE. 51 



In lark and nightingale we see 

 What honour hath humility. 



When Mary chose " the better part," 



She meekly sat at Jesu's feet ; 

 And Lydia's gently opened heart 



Was made for God's own temple meet: 

 Fairest and best adorn'd is she 

 Whose clothing is humility. 



The saint that ■vrears heaven's brightest crown, 



In deepest adoration bends ; 

 The weight of glory bows him down. 



Then most when most his soul ascends. 

 Nearest the throne itself must be, 

 The footstool of humility. 



In some parts of the country, however, nightingales 

 are quite as common in gardens as in woods. " I have 

 seen them," says a friend of the writer, " every year in 

 my garden. Nor are they difficult to be observed. I 

 have repeatedly seen them, though near-sighted, and 

 with a strong glass have observed the powerful working 

 of the strong muscles of the throat, as a nightingale 

 poured forth its melody from the yet leafless upper 

 branches of a lofty tree." 



But there is a contrast the most striking to the 

 warblings of the feathered tribes, which are heard for 

 only a short space. A change very quickly passes even 

 on the notes of the nightingale. The song ceases when 

 the mother bird has hatched her brood ; vigilance, 



