240 
THE NIGHTINGALE. 
This is, however, not quite true, for he sings in the day, often as * 
sweetly and as powerfully as at night ; hut amidst the general 
chorus of other singing birds, his efforts are less noticed. 
Neither is he by any means the only feathered musician 
of the night. The Wood-lark will, to a very late hour, pour 
forth its rich notes, flying in circles round the female, when 
sitting on her nest. The Sky-lark, too, may frequently he ! 
heard till near midnight high in the air, soaring as if in the 
brightness of a summer’s morning. Again, we have listened j 
with pleasure long after dark to the warblings of a Thrush, 
and been awakened at two in the morning, by its sweet 1 
serenade. The Sedge-hird and Grasshopper-lark may also he I 
heard long after sun- set. 
Light, however, seems to he, in most cases, a regulator of 
their song ; for in the case of the Sky-lark and Thrush, as it 
occurred in the middle of June, there was a strong twilight, 
and we have listened in vain for the Sky-lark’s note beyond 
the hour above mentioned ; though in the Northern part of 
Scotland, and the Shetland Islands, still further northward, 
where in summer it is scarcely ever dark, they are heard 
throughout the night singing ; and again, to use old Izaak 
Walton’s words, “ ascending higher into the air, and then for 
a time ending their heavenly employment, becoming mute 
and sad to think they must descend to the dull earth, which 
they would not touch hut from necessity.” 
