THE NIGHTINGALE IN VIEGIL. 1 35 



House-martin ; for the Swallow places his upon the rafters, 

 while the Martin does exactly what Virgil describes. Both 

 Aristotle and Pliny distinguish three or more species of 

 these birds, — the Swallow, Sand-martin, Swift, and possibly the 

 Crag-martin ; and their habits seem to have been the same as at 

 the present day. 



I shall not trouble my readers with any of Virgil's passages^ 

 about the Hawks and Eagles, in all of which he follows Homer 

 more or less closely. Nor need we pause to dwell on the single 

 passage in which he has mentioned the Nightingale ; for 

 beautiful as it is, it is not only based on Homer, but is 

 inferior in truth to Homer's lines. The older poet sings 

 truthfully of the Nightingale ' sitting in the thick foliage of the 

 trees,' and ' pouring a many-toned music with many a varied 

 turn' ; but Virgil has neither of these touches. Still his lines 

 have a beauty of their own : — 



Qualis populea moerena philomela sub umbra 

 AmisBos queritur foetus, quos durus arator 

 Observans nido implnmes detraxit ; at ilia 

 Elet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen 

 Integrat, et moestis late loca questibua implet.' 



I will • finish this chapter by quoting one more passage ; 

 in which I think we may see Virgil's own observation of the 



' Aen. Ix. 564; xi. 721, 751 ; xii. 247. 



" As in the poplar-shade a nightingale 

 Mourns her lost young, which some relentless swain, 

 Spying, from the nest has torn unfledged, but she 

 Wails the long night, and perched upon a spray 

 With sad insistence pipes her dolorous strain. 

 Till all the region with her wrongs o'erflows. 



&eorg. iv. 511. 



