82 On the Introduction of 



thrashes, starlings, goldfinches, linnets, skylarks, robins, wood- 

 larks, and chaffinches. By way of testing the accuracy of the 

 warning as to the difficulty of bringing any of them across the 

 sea, I asked particularly how many of his English birds Mr. 

 Brown had lost during the voyage. His answer was, " Not one 

 by death. I have every English bird I started with, but one 

 blackbird, which got out of its cage at sea, and flew overboard." 



So much for the impossibibty of bringing them out. As to 

 the fear of their meeting no suitable sustenance here, I can only 

 say that the nightingale is insectivorous ; and I think that few 

 of my hearers who know anything of the country districts of 

 this colony, will feel inclined to fear any fatal scarcity for an 

 insect-eating bird. Every tree swarms with life of one kind or 

 other all through the year ; and it seems absurd to suppose that 

 a bird with little else to do but to feed itself, should have any 

 difficulty in finding amply sufficient insects to keep itself in 

 health and comfort. In the course of an experiment with the 

 nightingales brought out by Mr. Brown, I had to take charge of 

 one of them for several weeks, and watching its habits atten- 

 tively, was very much struck by the activity and astonishing 

 rapidity with which it would dart upon any insect that came 

 near its cage. It takes a sharp bird to catch the house-fly, but 

 the nightingale rarely missed it. I saw quite sufficient to con- 

 vince me that in a country so beset with insects as this, there 

 was very little danger of starvation for a bird that fed on 

 insects. 



The result of the experiment with these nightingales has not, 

 I regret to say, been very successful, further than in furnishing 

 us with some hints for future operations. And here I would 

 repeat a remark that I made in my last Paper, that the most 

 essential quality in those who undertake this kind of experi- 

 ment, is the spirit to meet rebuffs. The original outlay, or the 

 little thought or care required for an experiment, appear to me 

 to be trivial matters, as compared with that dogged determi- 

 nation to succeed, which refuses to be daunted by difficulties, 

 and is rather spurred on to greater efforts by even mortifying 

 mishaps. 



Having succeeded, by the aid of a very enthusiastic naturalist — 

 Dr. Barry, of the Gardiner's Creek Boad — in raising the neces- 

 sary sum for the purchase of the five nightingales I have spoken 

 of, they were conveyed to the Botanical Gardens, and placed in 

 a large cage prepared for them. But almost the first night the 

 native cats attacked them, killing one, and slightly injuring one 

 of the others. Having made arrangements to prevent a repe- 



