358 THE SIGHTING ALTS. 



answer positively. Nightingales, on their passage, are abitt 

 to descry at a great distance high mountains, and such places 

 as from cold, or the scarcity of food, are not adapted for them, 

 and in their anxiety to avoid these, if not absolutely in the 

 line of route, may miss districts which are well suited for their 

 habitation. Tn the second place, when in want of food and 

 rest, they may be attracted out of the direct line, which they 

 would otherwise have pursued, by the sight of distant woods 

 and thickets. Thirdly, there may be, in places which they do 

 not frequent, an unfavourable condition of the temperature, 

 and a scarcity of proper food, imperceptible to us ; and fourthly, 

 if once the species has become extinct in any district, the con- 

 stancy with which birds of passage return to their birth-place, 

 would effectually prevent its recolonization. This, however, 

 may be effected by artificial means if it be thought unadvis- 

 able to trust to nature, a brood or two should be reared 

 from the nest, and set at liberty after the period of migration 

 in the autumn. The feeling that the time of departure has 

 passed over, as well as their comparative tameness, will pre- 

 vent the birds from leaving the place, when in the ensuing 

 year they will probably breed. It is, however, necessary, that 

 Nightingales intended for this purpose, should not be kept in 

 a cage, but allowed, as soon as they are able to feed themselves, 

 to fly about the room, half filled with boughs and bushes, in 

 order that they may acquire the full use of their wings. In 

 the same manner, they should be fed with their natural food, 

 insects and ants' eggs, in order that they may easily find them 

 when set at liberty. 



The Nightingale arrives in Germany about the middle of 

 April, and is always there by the time that the buds of the 

 whitethorn begin to burst into flower. As it migrates from 

 place to place and not in one long journey it rarely suffers 

 from the weather. It begins to depart about the middle of 

 August, in families, very gradually and in total silence ; and 

 at this period, may be taken in nooses baited with currants 

 and elder-berries. In central Germany, they are to be seen as 

 late as the middle of September, and then leave one by one, 

 so that it is impossible to name any period as that of their final 

 departure. Other birds, such as Swallows, which migrate in 

 large flocks, are not able to escape the eye of the attentive 

 naturalist in the same manner. Sickness, a late brood, or the 



