THE NIGHTINGALE. 39 



And Pomfret, writing towards the close of 

 the seventeenth century, says : 



" The first music of the grove we owe 

 To mourning Philomel's harmonious woe ; 

 And while her grief in charming notes express'd, 

 A thorny bramble pricks her tender breast." 



The origin of such an odd notion it is not 

 easy to ascertain, but I suspect Sir Thomas 

 Browne was not far from the truth when he 

 pointed to the fact that the Nightingale 

 frequents thorny copses, and builds her nest 

 amongst brambles on the ground. He inquires 

 " whether it be any more than that she placeth 

 some prickles on the outside of her nest, or 

 roosteth in thorny, prickly places, where serpents 

 may least approach her ? "^ 



In an article upon this subject published in 

 the "Zoologist" for 1862 (p. 8029), the Rev. 

 A. C. Smith has narrated the discovery on two 

 occasions of a strong thorn projecting upwards 

 in the centre of the Nightingale's nest. It 



1 Sir Thos. Browne's Works, Wilkin's ed. vol. ii. p. 537. 



