26 WILD LIFE OF SCOTLAND 



Sinclair placed eggs, gathered in the neighbour- 

 hood of London, in nests built near John o' Groat's 

 House. The robin was chosen as a foster-parent, 

 because he is a soft-billed bird like the nightingale, 

 and would be likely to provide the nestlings with 

 suitable food. All went well for a while. The 

 young were safely hatched and reared, and were 

 frequently observed during the remaining summer 

 weeks flitting about the bushes. But, in due season 

 the instinct to migrate stirred within ; they faced 

 southward, and never returned. 



It was an act akin to that of a friend, who built 

 nests of twigs among his beech-trees to induce the 

 passing rooks to settle. Nature refuses to be aided 

 or coaxed, except in certain cases. Game, or seed 

 birds, had they found the necessary conditions of 

 their life, would have raised no objection. Both 

 would have spread. But nightingales are only with 

 us for part of the year ; and the gap was too wide 

 to be crossed all at once. 



Far nearer the purpose, if the London bird- 

 fanciers let the eggs alone, so that the birds might 

 spread of themselves, overlapping their former 

 limits season by season. And, who knows, but that 

 one day the good people of Caithness might waken, 

 or go to sleep to the sound of nightingale music. 



