THE NIGHTINGALE. 215 



Com, com, com, coui, qui, qui, qui, qui, gai, gui, gui, gui * 



Goll goll gol-l goll gnia hadadoi. 



Couigui, horr, ha diadia dill si ! 



Hezezezezezezezezezezezezezezezeze couar ho dze hoi. 



Quia, quia, quid, quia, quia, quia, quia, quia, ti. 



Ki, ki, ki, 'io, 'io, 'io, ioioioio ki. 



Lu ly li le lai la leu lo, did I 'io quia. 



Kigaigaigaigaigaigaigai guiagaigaigai couior dzio dzio pi. 1*. 



If we could understand the sense of these words, we should doubtless 

 discover the expression of the sensations of this delightful songster. It is 

 true that the nightingales of all countries, the south as well as the north, 

 appear to sing in the same manner ; there is, however, as has been already 

 observed, so great a difference in the degree of perfection, that we cannot 

 help acknowledging that one has a great superiority over another. Ou 

 points of beauty, however, where the senses are the judges, each has his 

 peculiar taste. If one nightingale has the talent of dwelling ageeably on 

 his notes, another utters his with peculiar brilliancy, a third lengthens out 

 his strain in a particular manner, and a fourth excels in the silveriness of 

 his voice. All four may excel in their style, and each will find his ad- 

 mirer ; and, truly, it is very difficult to decide which merits the palm of 

 victory. There are, however, individuals so very superior as to unite all 

 the beauties of power and melody ; these are generally birds of the first 

 breed, which, having been hatched with the necessary powers, in a district 

 well peopled with nightingales, appropriate what is most striking in the 

 song of each, whence results this perfect compound, so worthy of our 

 admiration. As the return of the males in spring always precedes that of 

 the females by seven or eight days, they are constantly heard to sing before 

 and after midnight, in order to attract their companions on their journey 

 during the fine nights. If their wishes are accomplished they then keep 

 silence during the night, and salute the dawn with their first accents, 

 which are continued through the day. Some persist in their first season 

 in singing before and after midnight, whence they have obtained the name 

 of nocturnal nightingales; but they cannot be distinguished till after some 

 time, when they are established in their district, and have the society of 

 their females. After repeated experiments for many successive years, I 

 think I am authorised in affirming that the nocturnal and diurnal night- 

 ingales form distinct varieties, which propagate regularly : for if a young 

 bird is taken from the nest of a night singer, he, in his turn, will sing at 

 the same hours as his father, not the first year, but certainly in the fol- 

 lowing J ; while, on the other hand, the young of a day nightingale will 



* These syllables are pronounced in a sharper clearer manner than the pre- 

 ceding lu, hi, &c. 



t However difficult, or even impossible, it may be to express this song upon an 

 instrument (excepting, however, the jay call, made of tin, on which is placed a 

 piece of birch cut in a cross, and which is held between the tongue and the palate), 

 yet it is very true that the accompaniment of a good piano produces the most 

 agreeable effect AUTHOR. 



t We must not confound true nocturnal nightingales with those which are called 

 mopert. A true nocturnal sings from night to morning without stopping, while a 



