222 THE PHILOSOPHY OF BIRDS’ NESTS. 
which have naturally little variety of song, are ready 
in confinement to learn from other species, and be- 
come much better songsters. The bullfinch, whose 
natural notes are weak, harsh, and insignificant, has 
nevertheless a wonderful musical faculty, since it can 
be taught to whistle complete tunes. The nightin- 
gale, on the other hand, whose natural song is so 
beautiful, is exceedingly apt in confinement to learn 
that of other birds instead. Bechstein gives an ac- 
count of a redstart which had built under the eaves 
of his house, which imitated the song of a caged 
chaffinch in a window underneath, while another in 
his neighbour’s garden repeated some of the notes of 
a blackcap, which had a nest close by. 
These facts, and many others which might be 
quoted, render it certain that the peculiar notes of 
birds are acquired by imitation, as surely as a child 
learns English or French, not by instinct, but by 
hearing the language spoken by its parents. 
It is especially worthy of remark that, for young 
birds to acquire a new song correctly, they must be 
taken out of hearing of their parents very soon, for 
in the first three or four days they have already 
acquired some knowledge of the parent notes, which 
they will afterwards imitate. This shows that very 
young birds can both hear and remember, and it would 
be very extraordinary if, after they could see, they 
could neither observe nor recollect, and could live for 
days and weeks in a nest and know nothing of its 
materials and the manner of its construction. During 
