84 On the Introduction of 



not experiment upon more than one or two sorts of birds at a 

 time, we might accord to each a fair trial without any very 

 great individual efforts. We had to give Mr. Brown four or five 

 pounds each for his nightingales, and considering that it was his 

 peculiar business, I did not think the price an extravagant one. 

 But if they were brought out in numbers direct, bought on 

 reasonable terms in England or Germany, and entrusted to the 

 care of some intelligent cabin passenger, with the paid assistance 

 of a steerage passenger, in some of our clipper ships, I think 

 they ought to be landed here at probably one-fourth of that 

 sum. They should be examined on landing, their wings put to 

 rights, and they should then be allowed to exercise themselves 

 for a time in a moderate-sized room. The Botanical Gardens 

 have many advantages as a place to set them free, and of course 

 it would be of great importance to have them as near as possible 

 to Melbourne, so that their song, if they ever did become 

 established, might delight as large a number of hearers as pos- 

 sible. But close neighbourhood to town would be objectionable, 

 as exposing them to destruction at the hands of the cockney 

 shooters, who abound there, and who are apt to show themselves 

 less anxious as to the size or value of their game, than glad to 

 get something alive to shoot at. After some consideration it 

 strikes me that the best place that could be selected, at which 

 to set them free, would be amongst the well-grown umbrageous 

 gardens and orchards on the banks of the Yarra about Heidel- 

 berg. The nightingale has qualities very favorable for diffusion. 

 They are not gregarious. Intense jealousy of each other's song- 

 seems to separate them from one another. And as the notes of 

 this astonishing little vocalist can be heard at the distance of a 

 mile, there is every hope that if we can secure their being 

 numerous, their haunts will soon extend over a considerable 

 space. Started at Heidelberg, I believe they would soon make 

 their way up and down the river, stationing themselves wherever 

 they found an enticing thicket, and rapidly spreading further 

 and further in accordance with their usual instinct. As winter 

 comes on I think they would fly northward, and perhaps take 

 up their quarters temporarily in some warm locality on the 

 Murray, or still more northerly part. But if they bred, with us 

 they would return to their old breeding places in the spring, as 

 they are particularly faithful to old haunts. Particular birds 

 have been known to return to the same place for years in 

 succession. 



The experiment should be made in the spring, as soon as the 

 warm days come round, and insects become numerous. To give 



