142 OUU NATIVE SONGSTERS. 



away from the spot. A naturalist, who was one day 

 tempted to enter a copse, in pursuit of an azure 

 butterfly, was attracted by the melodies of a 

 nightingale close at his side. " The singing," says 

 Mr. Conway, '' was in one continuous, incessant 

 and uninteiTupted melody ; there were none of 

 those frequent breaks which are so characteristic 

 of the song of the nightingale when heard at 

 a little distance ; it was one incessant warble. I 

 can hardly call it a warble either; it was one 

 unceasing eftbrt; so much so, that I stood per- 

 fectly astonished, and at a loss to conceive how it 

 was possible for so small a creature to exert itself 

 so mightily." This listener soon began to think 

 that the nest must be near, and lie determined to 

 watch the bird closely in order to discover it. 

 This, however, was a very difficult matter, and he 

 was at one time nearly giving up his search as 

 useless, for whenever he entered the copse, no 

 matter from what opening, there was the sweet 

 minstrel close by him, and hopping from spray to 

 spray, and bush to bush, thus leading him round 

 about the wood at its will. He had just desisted 

 from the attempt, when, by accident, he found the 

 nest, and he then perceived that whichever way 



