SPRING AND SUMMER RAMBLES. 35 



hardness of his fate. We saw three of these ' ' soli- 

 taries " in far-away nooks of the park. 



We returned by way of the cool and pleasant dairies, 

 and had a peep at the fish-ponds, which seemed to be 

 more or less overgrown with wild weeds, and had the 

 appearance of being quite neglected. 



Here in the park we first heard the monotonous 

 song of the cuckoo, 



" With its twin notes inseparably paired ; " * 



and our coachman drew our attention to a nightin- 

 gale's sweet warble, almost lost in the noisy songs of 

 scores of other birds. I had an idea that the nightin- 

 gale sings only at night, but I find this is not correct. 

 He sings like other birds by day, but his note is not 

 then so distinguishable as when he has all to himself 

 the solitude of night to utter his thrilling notes. This 

 "chiefest of the little nimble musicians of the air, 

 that warble forth their curious ditties with which 

 nature has furnished them to the shame of art," as 

 says Izaak Walton, is peculiar in his choice of locality. 

 He is never found in Cornwall and South Devon, 

 the climate of which would seem to suit best his 

 delicate nature ; nor is he often found north of the 

 Trent. 



A day or two later we migrated to Shanklin in the 

 Isle of Wight, which we made our headquarters for 

 rambles and drives and railway trips to different parts. 

 One very interesting spot is the Old Roman Villa 

 discovered a few years ago at Morton Farm, between 



1 Wordsworth. But not always twin notes; later in the 

 season it has " six cucks to one coo" 



