u.8 
THE NATURAL HISTORY 
I.'i feme inttances thefe imitations feemed to 
require great effort. 
1 he Nightingale is frequently caught, and 
tamed, for the fake of his fong : but great at¬ 
tentions are requisite to lucceed; his cage fhuuld 
be painted green, and fhaded with boughs ; mofs 
fhould be placed under his feet, and he fhotild be 
p’entifully fed with a kind of food that he likes j 
in fhort he muft aimed be deceived with rcfpeclto 
his confinement: in this cafe the tame Night- 
ingale will fing almoft conftantly, except during 
llte moulting feafon, and his fong will be fuperior 
to that of the wild Nightingale, for he will em- 
bellifh it with the excellencies of the fongs of other 
birds. I hey may be taught, to f;ng in parts, and 
perhaps even to fpeak, but many of thefe ac¬ 
counts are much exaggerated ; fuch for inflance 
is the ttory that is told of fome canary birds be¬ 
longing to the fons of the Emperor Claudius, 
which it is faid fpoke Creek and Latin, and every 
day learnt new phrafes, and fome not very fhort, 
to amufe their matters. 
There is a very wonderful ftory of two Night¬ 
ingales mentioned by Geffner, which it is much 
more amufing to read, than eafy to believe ; he 
qui tes a letter, written as he profefied to fup- 
pofe, by a gentleman of veracity; which relates 
that 
