96 TREATISE ON 



and west. This may be true ; but we shall state 

 what came under our own personal observation 

 mth regard to the comparative excellence of the 

 song of these birds on the continent and in Scot- 

 land. 



In 1802, being at Geneva, at the residence of 

 a friend about tlu-ee miles from the town, in a 

 quiet sequestered spot, surrounded by gardens 

 and forests, and witliiu hearing of the murmur of 

 the Rhone : — there, on a beautiful still evening, 

 the air soft and balmy, the windows of the house 

 open, and the twilight chequered by trees, there* 

 we heard two nightingales sing indeed most de- 

 lightfully, — ^but not more so than one we heard 

 down a stau', in a dark cellar, in the High Street 

 of Edinbm-gh ! — such a place as that described in 

 " The Antiquary ;" no window, and no light ad- 

 mitted but what came fi'om the open door, and 

 the atmosphere charged with the fumes of to-* 

 bacco and spirits : it was a place where carriers 

 lodged, or put up, — and the heads of the porters 

 and chairmen, carrying luggage, nearly came in 

 contact with the cage, which was hung at the foot 

 of the stair-case : — ^yet even here did this bird sing 

 as mellow, as sweet, and as sprightly as did those 

 at Geneva. We have often stopped to hear it 



