[ 2 g 3 3 
And here I muft again repeat, that what I de* 
fcribe is from a caged nightingale, becaufe thofe 
which we hear in the fpring are fo rank, that they 
feidom fing any thing but fhort and loud jerks, 
which confequently cannot be compared to the notes 
of a caged bird, as the inftrument is overtrained. 
I muft alfo here obferve, that my Nightingale 
was a very capital bird ; for fome of them are fo 
vaftly inferior, that the bird-fanciers will not keep 
them, branding them with the name of French- 
men *. 
But it is not only in tone and variety that the 
Nightingale excells j the bird alfo lings (if I may 
fo exprefs myfelf) with fuperior judgement and 
tafte. 
I have therefore commonly obferved, that my 
Nightingale began foftly like the ancient orators j 
I have made no mention of the bulfinch in this table, which 
is commonly confidered as a finging bird ; becaufe its wild note, 
without inftru£lion, is a moft jarring and difagreeable noife. 
I have likewife omitted 1 the redftart (which is called by the 
French le Rolfignol de Muraille), as I am not fufficiently ac- 
quainted with its fong, though it is admired by many ; I fhould 
rather conceive, however, with Zinanni, that there is no very 
extraordinary merit in the notes. 
The London bird-catchers alfo fell lometimes the yellow 
hammer, twite and brambling m as finging birds ; but none 
of thefe will come within my definition of what may be deemed 
fo. 
* One fhould fuppofe from this, that the nightingale-catch- 
ers had heard much of the French mufic ; which is poffibly the 
cafe, as fome of them live in Spittal-fields. 
1 II culo ranzo e un ucello, (per quanto dicono) molto canoro, ma 
io tale non lo ftimo. Delle uova e del nidi, p. r i, 
“ They call this bird a kate. 
Vol. LXIII. P p 
feferving 
