THE BEREAVED PARENT. 35 



he attaches but little meaning ; add, however, to this the 

 syllable err, and it becomes the call of invitation from the 

 male to the female. The utterance of fear or displeasure 

 is/^, repeated several times rapidly and loudly, and ter- 

 minating with a very emphatic err; while the sound of 

 satisfaction or pleasure is a deep tuck, which may be imi- 

 tated by smacking the tongue. Melodious, as all the notes 

 of the bird generally are, it sometimes utters hoarse, dis- 

 agreeable sounds, like those of the Jay or cat ; this is when 

 excited by anger, jealousy, or any extraordinary event 

 such, for instance, as the plundering of its nest described 

 by the poet : 



When home returning with her loaded bill, 

 The astonished mother finds a vacant nest 

 By the hard hands of unrelenting clowns 

 Bobbed ; to the ground the vain provision falls ; 

 Her pinions ruffle, and, low drooping, scarce 

 Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade, 

 Where, all abandoned to despair, she sings 

 Her sorrow through the night, and on the bough 

 Sole sitting, still at every dying fall 

 Takes up again the lamentable strain 

 Of winding woe, till, wide around, the woods 

 Sigh to her song, and with her wail resound. 



The Nightingale is the Bulbul of the eastern poets, and 

 we would gladly gossip on about this favourite songster, 

 which is found throughout Europe, extending as far north 

 as Sweden ; in Asia, and in Egypt on the banks of the 

 Nile ; but feel that we have already exceeded our space. 

 As a fitting conclusion, we shall quote Wordsworth's fine 

 lines descriptive of evening, leaving unnoticed with regret 

 many beautiful poems, and interesting remarks, by authors 

 of all ages and countries on this bird : 



The Linnet's warble, sinking towards a close, 

 Hints to the Thrush 'tis time for their repose ; 

 The shrill- voiced Thrush is heedless, and again 

 The Monitor revives his own sweet strain ; 

 But both will soon be mastered, and the copse 

 Be left as silent as the mountain-tops, 

 Ere some commanding star dismiss to rest 

 The throng of Rooks, that now, from twig or nest, 

 c 2 



