THE NIGHTINGALE. 35 



and the most westward of them probably cross 

 the Channel at Cape la Hogue, arriving on the 

 coast of Dorsetshire, and thence apparently 

 proceeding northwards, rather than dispersing 

 towards the west ; so that they are only known 

 as accidental stragglers a little beyond the third 

 degree of western longitude." They arrive 

 generally about the end of the second week in 

 April, and it is a well-ascertained fact that the 

 males invariably precede the females by several 

 days. In 1867 three London birdcatchers, 

 between April 13 and May 2, took 225 Night- 

 ingales, and the whole of these, with five or six 

 exceptions only, were cock birds. The previous 

 year these same bird-catchers had supplied the 

 dealer by whom they were employed with 280 

 Nightingales, of which not more than sixty were 

 hens. From these statistics we may infer that 

 in no locality would Nightingales be more 

 plentiful if unmolested than in the neighbour- 

 hood of London ; but if one dealer only is 

 instrumental in capturing between 200 and 300 

 in the season, it is easy to account for the 



