82 MIGRA TION AND FLIGHT. 



shooting, about five miles from the sea, observed an extra- 

 ordinary flight of Jays passing in a single line from seaward 

 towards the interior. The line extended farther than the eye 

 could reach, and must have consisted of some thousands ; there 

 could be no doubt of their being Jays, as several were killed 

 as they passed. ' But the noise of the guns did not occasion 

 the rest to deviate from their line of flight : these birds, to all 

 appearance, were then coming from the Continent. We have 

 before noticed the occasional wandering tendency of that 

 steadiest of all birds, the barn-door Goose ; in fact, all birds 

 seem, either at certain seasons or under certain circumstances, 

 to be seized with travelling propensities which they cannot 

 resist. If any of our regularly migratory birds are kept in an 

 aviary or cage, when the usual time arrives for the departure 

 of the rest of their species, these prisoners, without having any 

 communication with their companions, will nevertheless mani- 

 fest great uneasiness, and often die if detained. We have 

 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 ineffec- 

 tual endeavours to escape. 



In the year 1837 an instance came under our observation, 

 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 symptoms of impatience at the usual period of 

 migration. It was silent the rest of the year. In 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, 



