(BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 113 



it thus: At first it was loud but mellow; tlien 

 sprightly and varied, the cadence dying away as if 

 the bird was more distant at the close of the warble 

 ; than when it first began; but, the next moment, 

 i he heard it as before, thus showing the bird was 

 ; stUl on the same tree. From his description of 

 this bird's singing, we are almost led to conclude 

 it really must have been a nightingale. At this 

 time a pair of magpies returned to their old nest, 

 which was placed on a large tree near his house, 

 and, from that time, the bird was no longer heard. 

 Wliether nightingales have ever bred in Scotland, 

 we cannot say; but if such an expedient as the fol- 

 lowing was attempted, we think it might succeed: 

 Were birds procured and reared from the nest, 

 and set at liberty the next season at pairing time, 

 in some sequestered, sheltered spot where there 

 was covert, viz, hedges and brushwood, or groves 

 and plantations through which a clear rivulet 

 ran over sand-banks, and pebbles, — and many 

 such situations are to be found in Scotland,) — it is 

 possible they might breed, and, after that, there 

 would be no danger of losing them, as it is well 

 ascertained that migratory birds have a strong in- 

 clination to return to and nestle in the places where 

 they themselves were bred; and thus this de- 



