294 HABITS OF BIRDS. 



thrush; but we have observed individuals, which 

 severally exhibited both superiority and inferiority. 

 Two summers ago we were absolutely annoyed by the 

 unvaried monotony of one who had chosen his sta- 

 tion near our garden, and who pertinaciously piped 

 the same two or three notes for weeks together. 

 Another song-thrush, in the same vicinity, and in 

 August, too, when most of its brethren were mute 

 from moulting, piped so clearly and with such variety 

 of notes and cadence, at one time bursting into a 

 loud commanding tone, and again sinking into 

 " linked sweetness long drawn out," passing from 

 sostenuto to staccato, from the pathetic to the merry 

 glee of buoyant hilarity, that anybody but a naturalist 

 would have felt convinced that the two birds were of 

 distinct species. The song of the thrush, however, 

 which became so tiresome by its monotony, was finely 

 contrasted with that of a nightingale stationed in the 

 same hedge, whose intonation and execution far ex- 

 celled those of any other bird of the species we have 

 ever heard. It might be, perhaps, that we were 

 somewhat disposed to exaggerate the beauty of the 

 nightingale's song in consequence of this striking 

 contrast ; yet, making every allowance on that ac- 

 count, there could be no doubt of the superior excel- 

 lence of the notes *. 



It must be from some accidental peculiarities of 

 this kind that the nightingales of Persia, Karamania, 

 and Greece are said to sing better than those of Italy ; 

 while the Italian birds are more esteemed by amateurs 

 than those of France, and the French than those of 

 England. According to Pausanias, the nightingales 

 which sing near the tomb of Orpheus are more 

 melodious than elsewhere, and a similar superiority 

 was also popularly believed to belong to those of 

 Thrace f. Both of these opinions are also maintained 

 * J. R, f In Boeot. 



