CHAPTER V. 
THE BIRDS OF SONG. 
F there is one class of birds more than another to 
which poets in all ages have been indebted for 
inspiration, and to which they have directed particular 
attention, it is that which includes the birds of song. 
Shakespeare, as a naturalist, could not have overlooked 
them. Nor has he done so. These “ light-wing’d Dryads 
of the trees” have received at his hands all the praise 
which they deserve, while oftentimes, for melody and 
pathos, he may be said to have borrowed from their 
songs himself. 
Of all the singers in the woodland choir the Nightingale 
(Luscinia philomela), by common consent, stands first. For 
quality of voice, variety of notes, and execution, she is pro- 
bably unrivalled. Hence, with poets, she has ape been the 
chief favourite. Izaak Walton has truly said, “ The nightin- 
gale breathes such sweet loud music out of her little in- 
strumental throat, that it might make mankind to think 
