240 THE NIGHTINGALE. 



This is, however, not quite true, for he sings in the day, often as 

 sweetly and as powerfully as at night ; but amidst the general 

 chorus of other singing birds, his efforts are less noticed. 

 Neither is he by any means the only feathered musician 

 of the night. The Wood-lark will, to a very late hour, pour 

 forth its rich notes, flying in circles round the female, when 

 sitting on her nest. The Sky -lark, too, may frequently be 

 heard till near midnight high in the air, soaring as if in the 

 brightness of a summer's morning. Again, we have listened 

 with pleasure long after dark to the warblings of a Thrush, 

 and been awakened at two in the morning, by its sweet 

 serenade. The Sedge-bird and Grasshopper-lark may also 

 be heard long after sun-set. 



Light, however, seems to be, in most cases, a regulator of 

 their song ; for in the case of the Sky-lark and Thrush, as it 

 occurred in the middle of June, there was a strong twilight, 

 and we have listened in vain for the Sky-lark's note beyond 

 the hour above mentioned; though in the northern part of 

 Scotland, and the Shetland Islands, still further northward, 

 where in summer it is scarcely ever dark, they are heard 

 throughout the night singing ; and again, to use old Izaak 

 Walton's words, " ascending higher into the air, and then for 

 a time ending their heavenly employment, becoming mute 

 and sad to think they must descend to the dull earth, which 

 they would not touch but from necessity." 



