THE NIGHTINGALE. 207 



reddish edge ; below they are white, and grayish on the sides. 

 But those which are shut up in small ill-lighted rooms, subject 

 to smoke, soon lose their colours, the upper part of the body 

 becoming dingy red, the under part grayish white, and the sides 

 brownish gray. 



Those accustomed to birds distinguish the female at a glance. 

 Her shanks are not so high : she is not so erect ; her head is 

 not so long and pointed, but rounder ; her neck is shorter, and 

 more inclined back ; her eye is smaller and less lively ; and her 

 throat is not so white. Notwithstanding these characteristics, 

 no other than an experienced person could decide the sex unless 

 he had them both before him. 



Nightingales so strongly resemble the female redstart, that 

 the latter is often caught and sold for a nightingale, while the 

 nightingale in its turn is killed and eaten for a redstart. To 

 avoid mistakes, we must observe the following particulars : 

 The female redstart is always smaller, and her plumage darker : 

 her small feet and beak are blackish ; the red of her tail is 

 lighter, and the two middle feathers are blackish, or very dark 

 brown ; this long slender tail is in continual motion, while the 

 nightingale moves his only at intervals, for example, when he 

 has hopped a few steps, and he generally carries it raised 

 higher than the point of his wings. His step and attitude are 

 prouder, and his actions seem more deliberate. When he 

 walks, it is by measured regular hops. After a certain num- 

 ber he stops, looks at himself, shakes his wings, raises his tail 

 gracefully, spreads it a little, stoops his head several times, 

 raises his tail again, and proceeds. If any object attracts hit- 

 attention, he bends his head towards it, and generally looks at 

 it with only one eye. It is true that he jumps hastily upon 

 the insects which constitute his food ; but he does not seize 

 them so eagerly as other birds ; on the contrary, he stops short, 

 and seems to deliberate whether it is prudent to eat them or 

 not. Generally he has a serious circumspect air, but his fore- 

 sight is not proportioned to it, for he falls readily into all the 

 snares which are laid for him. If he once escapes, however, 

 he is not so easily caught again, and becomes as cunning as any 

 other bird. The same, indeed, may be said of all birds pursued 

 by man. Nightingales are called, in my opinion very unjustly, 

 silly and curious ; for a great number of new things may b 



