THE NIGHTINGALE. 143 



that song had led him, it was always away from 

 the dwelling of the bird. 



No bird is more easily caught than the night- 

 ingale. As it sings well in confinement, great 

 numbers are taken during the first week after 

 their arrival in this country, by the bird-catchers, 

 especially in Surrey, as bird-fanciers consider the 

 nightingale from that county to excel peculiarly in 

 tone. This practice, of course, lessens considerably 

 the chorus which would else be left to render the 

 music of our woodlands delightful to the inhabi- 

 tant of the Great Metropolis, who, after the cares 

 and anxieties of city life, may wander dm*ing 

 evening in the neighbourhood to listen to the 

 soothing sounds of nature. It has been observed, 

 too, that the nightingale, more than almost any 

 other bird which builds near London, is liable to 

 have its young ones destroyed by cats, as directly 

 the morning dawns, the younglings commence such 

 a perpetual clamour for food, that their enemy is 

 attracted by it to the nest. The nightingale, when 

 in captivity, will easily learn various airs whistled 

 to it by the mouth, or played on a flageolet ; but 

 it loses, in so doing, its own exquisite song. It 

 is, indeed, during its first year of confinement, 



