82 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



notes are often overlooked. I heard a perfect babel of 

 bird-songs some years ago in the Isle of Wight. There 

 were not a few Nightingales' voices amongst them ; but 

 they had by no means the same effect as when heard 

 in the stillness of the summer night. For my own 

 part, I believe that if our Blackbird were to sing at 

 night, his song would be almost as much appreciated as 

 that of England's famous warbler. 



The most probable reason for the absence of the 

 Nightingale from Scotland, Devonshire, Cornwall, North 

 Wales, Ireland, and other places, is that the small 

 beetles and caterpillars upon which it feeds are not to be 

 found in these localities ; various attempts have been 

 made to induce young birds to remain in Scotland and 

 elsewhere, but always without success. 



As the habits of the Nightingale most closely resemble 

 those of the Robin, the eggs of the latter have some- 

 times been taken away, and those of the Nightingale 

 put in their stead, in the hope that the young birds 

 would return year after year to the place of their birth, 

 as we know that Swifts, Swallows, and other birds do ; 

 but this expectation has always been disappointed. 

 Sir Robert Jardine offered one shilling a-piece for all 

 the Nightingales' eggs that could be procured, and sent 

 a great number to his country seat near Edinburgh, 

 where they were placed in Robins' nests. In many 

 cases the young birds were hatched and reared. They 

 flew about in the vicinity for some weeks after, and 

 when the period of migration arrived, departed to return 

 no more. 



So many Nightingales are captured on their arrival 

 in England, that it has been supposed that the birds 



