ORDER PASSERES. 29 



which the bird in a state of freedom experiences nothing, the 

 most dangerous is the falling sickness : it will immediately 

 destroy it, if prompt assistance be not rendered. 



When the nightingales have swallowed any thing indi- 

 gestible, they reject it in the form of pills, or little pellets, 

 like the birds of prey. This is not a disease, but proceeds 

 from their having no crop, only a single canal conducting to 

 the stomach. 



It is necessary to examine the nightingale twice a year, to 

 see if he be too fat, or too lean, for his external appearance is 

 often deceitful. Sometimes he is ill, without appearing to be 

 so ; and sometimes the reverse is the case, from derangement 

 of the feathers. This examination should take place in the 

 months of March and October. 



The River Nightingale {Turdus Arundinaceus) was placed 

 among the thrushes by former naturalists. Our author 

 places it at the head of the warblers, which immediately 

 follow the nightingale. It inhabits marshes, the borders 

 of ponds and rivers, generally remaining in reeds and 

 hedges, from which it has received its scientific appellation. 

 It climbs along reeds and willows of no great elevation, 

 like the creepers, and lives on the insects which it finds there. 

 The male sings during the night, as well as day, in the season 

 of re-production. Its song, and the habit of remaining in 

 humid places, have obtained it the denomination of river 

 nightingale. Its voice, however, though of considerable 

 compass, has none of the charms of that of the songster of 

 the woods. This bird accompanies its song with lively 

 action, and a tremulous motion of the entire body. It flies 

 heavily, clapping its wings, places its nest on precipitous 

 banks, and in places furnished with moss. It lays about 

 five eggs, of a yellowish white, spotted with brown, and a 

 little larger than those of a sparrow. It is abundant in the 

 South of France, and is also found in the North, but not so 

 frequently. It inhabits the Southern provinces of Russia, 



