BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 97 



and listened with the greatest pleasure ; and, as 

 the pieman passed with his jingling bell, a sound 

 now seldom heard in the streets of Edinburgh, 

 the bird seemed more sprightly, and warbled with 

 renewed spirit and energy ! So much for the sup- 

 posed superiority of continental to British birds. 



In all parts of Europe nightingales are migra- 

 tory, retu'ing to Asia and Africa from the severi- 

 ty of our winters ; but in India, China, and Ja- 

 pan, they are permanent inhabitants. In the 

 islands of the latter empire these bu'ds are an ar- 

 ticle of commerce, and are sold at a high price. — 

 Sonnini says, he has traced their passage to the 

 islands of the Archipelago, and in winter has met 

 them on the fresh and smiling plains of the Delta. 



This bird has a sort of jerk with its body and 

 tail, somewhat like the redbreast, and in manners 

 nearly resembles that bird, except in approaching 

 the habitations of men, being more like those red- 

 breasts that retire to the forests to breed. It is a 

 shy, solitary bird, and, like the redbreast, will al- 

 low no other of the same species to approach its 

 haunts : their food is the same, their nest and 

 their manner of building nearly the same ; their 

 little dwelling is concealed with equal ingenuity; 

 they affect the same situations for incubation, and 



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