THE NIGHTINGALE. 209 



slow, and subject to interruptions, it is requisite that they should find on 

 their passage every thing necessary for their subsistence, and too cold an 

 atmosphere is painful to them. It may also happen that the nightingales 

 which formerly frequented them, may have been altogether extirpated ; 

 and as it has been said that the young always establish themselves in the 

 district which gave them birth, it is by no means surprising that they should 

 not be chosen, at least there are many chances against it. Rather than 

 wait in vain for this chance, there is a means of re-peopling such places with 

 these charming birds. It is only necessary to bring up some broods of 

 young ones, and not let them loose in the following spring till after the 

 period of return is elapsed ; because being no longer excited by the instinct 

 which induces them to travel, and the instinct itself being subdued in a 

 great measure by their imprisoned education, they will not wander, but 

 will remain and propagate, provided they are not disturbed, and will retxirn 

 the year following with all their family. I must not omit to say that the 

 young intended for this re-peopling must not be confined in a cage, as they 

 would lose the use of their wings, and run the risk of perishing the first day 

 of their liberation. As soon as they can feed themselves, they must be allowed 

 an entire room, in which they may fly freely, and grow strong and bold. A 

 sort of grove should be formed of branches or small trees, and nature should 

 be imitated as much as possible also in feeding them, by throwing to them 

 more insects and ants' eggs than usual, to accustom them to seek for them. 



The period of the nightingale's return throughout the greater part of 

 Germany, is the middle of April, rarely either earlier or later * : it is 

 always when the white-thorn begins to expand its leaves. Advancing 

 slowly and gradually, these birds are not so likely to suffer from bad 

 weather as those which go straight to their destination by one stage. In 

 the middle of August each family prepares to depart ; this is done quietly, 

 removing gradually, and passing from grove to grove to the end of their 

 journey ; then it is that these birds are caught with nooses or springes, by 

 using elderberries or currants for a bait. The middle of September is the 

 latest period at which they are seen in Germany. All then disappear 

 imperceptibly, so that the time they employ in the rest of their journey is 

 altogether unknown. Other birds, whose instinct leads them to travel in 

 large flights, do not so easily escape observation. If by accident a 

 nightingale is met with at the end of September, or in October, it must 

 have been delayed by some peculiar circumstance ; for instance, it may be 

 a young one that has lost its way, or that was hatched late, or it may be 

 an invalid. 



In confinement nightingales may be allowed to fly freely, as I have 

 often permitted them ; but they do not then sing so well as when in a 

 cage, where they are less subject to interruptions, and where also they 

 live longer and more healthily, from being fed with more care and 

 regularity. The nightingale's cage, of whatever form, must not be less 

 than a foot and a half in length, by about one, in width, and one or more 

 in height. The top should be made of linen or soft stuff, that when 



* In Italy they arrive in March, and depart in the beginning of November. 

 In England they arrive in April and May, and depart in the month of September, 

 P 



