NIGHTINGALE. 85 



descended. It also searches for insects along the branches 

 and under leaves. It is fond of the eggs of ants, and of 

 the larvae of wasps, hornets, and bees. The young are said 

 to be fed with caterpillars. 



It is a fancy of Viellot, and the idea, though fanciful, is a 

 pretty one, that the Nightingale loves a neighbourhood where 

 there is an echo, as if aware of and admiring its own music. 

 Certainly the echo of such sounds, for most beautiful they 

 are, are well worth listening to, and the softened strain may 

 be mistaken by the enamoured bird for the answering note 

 of his partner, and so may have a heightened enchantment 

 to his ear. 



The name of Nightingale is derived, as Pennant remarks, 

 from the word night, and the Saxon word galan to sing; 

 and 'oft in the stilly night' when you are far away from 

 every worldly association, and there is nothing but the voice 

 of the Nightingale to break the 'charmed air' and the repose 

 in which all nature is hushed, your soul may well be raised 

 to happy and holy contemplation, and you will be able to 

 enter into the spirit of the Old Hundredth Psalm, and 

 'Praise GOD from whom all blessings flow.' 



When the young are hatched the song ceases in great 

 measure, though it is in fact continued in some degree to 

 within a few days of their departure. They do not sing on 

 their very first arrival; it is not till the females have come 

 that the serenade begins; then 'Buona notte, Buona notte 

 amato bene' is the nightly strain for about a fortnight, until 

 the arrival of a family busy it too much with sublunary 

 cares. If the female be accidentally destroyed, the male then 

 resumes his song until he finds another partner, which, curious 

 to say, as in the case of other species, he generally meets 

 with, but where or how is 'passing strange.' A warning note 

 is excited by the approach of danger, or a snapping of the 

 bill uttered against it, and a short 'tack,' heard also at other 

 times. The Nightingale begins its morning song from half- 

 past three to four o'clock. Sometimes, indeed, especially if 

 the moon be shining, it sings throughout the night, and its 

 song, attended however by its peculiar objurgatory note, 

 instead of being checked, is only excited the .more by any 

 casual disturbance. The sound of music or other noise will 

 arouse their attention, and at times their rivalry. An anecdote 

 is on record of one which entered into competition with the 

 instrument of a performer, and fell at his feet exhausted 



