Chapter XII: Introduction (11)

It is a pity that the time for this delightful bird's song should be
so short, that is to say, when wild. It endures hardly three months;
and during this short interval it is not maintained with equal power.
At its first arrival it is the most beautiful, continued, and
impassioned; when the young are hatched, it becomes more rare; the
attentions which they require occupying considerable time. If from
time to time the nightingale's song is heard, it is evident that the
fire which animated it is much weakened. After midsummer all is
ended, nothing is heard but the warbling of the young, which seem to
study their father's song, and try to imitate it. The nightingale
sings much longer in confinement: birds which are caught full grown
sometimes sing from November to Easter; those which are bred from the
nest sing much longer, sometimes as long as seven months; but in
order that they may sing well they must be put under the instruction
of an old nightingale which is a good singer, otherwise they will be
only stammerers, mutilating their natural song, and inserting in a
confused manner tones and passages which they have caught from other
birds. If, however, they have a good instructor, and a good memory,
they imitate perfectly, and often add to their instructor's song some
beauties of their own, as is usual among young birds[82].

I cannot help here mentioning the cruel and disgusting selfishness of
some men, who, in order a little to prolong the song of this
interesting bird, sacrifice to their transient gratification its
eyes, by blinding it, as is done to the lark and the chaffinch.

It is said that a nightingale and a female red-breast running free in
the room will sometimes pair, and produce mules, but I have no
experience on this subject.

I cannot better complete my account of the nightingale's song than by
transcribing the delightful, though somewhat exaggerated picture,
which has been given of it by Buffon. "There is no well organised
man," says he, "to whom the name of the nightingale does not recall
some one of those fine nights in spring, when the sky being clear,
the air calm, all nature silent, and as it were attentive, he has
listened with delight to the song of this chorister of the woods.
Several singing birds may be named whose voices in some respects may
compete with that of the nightingale; the lark, the canary, the
greenfinch, the blackcap, the linnet, the goldfinch, the common
blackbird, the solitary thrush, the American mocking-bird, are all
listened to with pleasure when the nightingale is silent: some have
fine tones, others have their voice as clear as it is soft, others
have as fine flourishes, but there is not one which the nightingale
does not surpass in the complete union of all these different
talents, and in the prodigious variety of his songs; so that the song
of each of the above-named birds is, when taken in its whole extent,
only one couplet of that of the nightingale. The nightingale always
charms, and never copies himself servilely; if he repeats any passage
it is animated with a new accent, embellished by new ornaments. He
succeeds in all styles, he renders all expressions, he seizes all
characters, and he also augments their effect by contrast. If this
Coryphæus of the spring prepares to sing a hymn to nature, he begins
by a timid prelude, by faint uncertain sounds, as if he would try his
instrument and interest his audience; then gaining courage he becomes
gradually animated, warmed, and he soon displays in their plenitude
all the resources of his incomparable organ, brilliant bursts, lively
delicate trills, volleys of notes whose distinctness equals their
volubility; an internal dull murmur, not itself pleasing to the ear,
but very fit to enhance the brilliancy of the agreeable strains,
sudden, brilliant, and rapid runs, articulated with strength, and
even a tasteful ruggedness, plaintive accents, tender cadences;
sounds dwelt on without art, but swelling with sentiment;
enchantingly penetrating notes, the true sighs of voluptuousness and
love, which seem to come from the heart, and make all hearts
palpitate; which produce in all who are not insensible a delightful
emotion, a touching languor. In those impassioned tones are
recognised the language of sentiment which a happy husband addresses
to his beloved partner, and which she alone can inspire; while in
other strains, more surprising perhaps, but less expressive, are
discovered the simple wish of amusing and pleasing her, or of
disputing before her the prize of singing with rivals jealous of his
glory and happiness.

"These different strains are interspersed with pauses which in all
styles of melody concur in producing great effects. We dwell on the
beautiful notes we have just heard, and which still resound in our
ears; we enjoy them the more because the pleasure is more limited,
more exclusive, and undisturbed by new sensations. Soon we expect, we
desire another strain; we hope it may be pleasing; if we are
mistaken, the beauty of what we hear will not leave us room to regret
that which is only delayed, and the interest of hope is maintained
for the strains which will follow. One of the reasons why the song of
the nightingale is so striking, and produces so much effect, is, as
Mr. Barington has well said, because he sings in the night, which is
the most favourable time, and he sings alone, whereby his voice is
heard in all its splendour, and is undisturbed by any other voice. He
eclipses all other birds, adds Mr. Barington, by his soft flute-like
tones, and by the uninterrupted duration of his warble, which lasts
sometimes for twenty seconds. The same observer reckoned in this
warble sixteen different strains, well marked by their first and
last notes, the intermediate notes being tastefully varied by the
bird; and he ascertained that the space filled by the nightingale's
voice is no less than an English mile in diameter, especially when
the air is calm: this equals the compass of the human voice.

"It is surprising that so small a bird, which weighs only half an
ounce, should have such force in the vocal organs. Mr. Hunter has
observed that the muscles of the larynx, or gullet, are stronger in
proportion, in this species, than in any other, and also stronger in
the male which sings, than in the female which does not sing.

"Aristotle, and Pliny after him, say, that the song of the
nightingale lasts in all its strength for fifteen days and fifteen
nights uninterruptedly, at the time that the trees are putting forth
their leaves; this can refer only to wild nightingales, and must not
be taken literally; for these birds are not silent either before or
after the period fixed by Aristotle. It is true they do not continue
to sing with so much ardour and constancy. They generally begin in
the month of April, and do not completely end till the month of June,
about the time of the solstice; but the time when their song
diminishes most, is when the young are hatched, because they are then
occupied in feeding them, and in the order of instincts, that which
tends to the preservation of the species is pre-eminent. Captive
nightingales continue to sing for nine or ten months, and their song
is sustained not only for a longer time, but it is more perfect and
studied. Hence Mr. Barington infers, that in this species, and in
many others, the male does not sing to amuse the female, and enliven
her fatigue when sitting; which appears a very just and probable
inference. Indeed, the female when she sits performs her office from
an instinct, or rather a passion, stronger in her than even the
passion of love; she finds in it an internal satisfaction of which we
can form no idea, but which she appears to feel sensibly, and we
cannot therefore suppose that at such moments she is in any want of
consolation. Since then it is neither from duty nor virtue that the
female sits, neither is it on that account that the male sings:
indeed he does not sing during the second incubation. It is love, and
especially the first season of love, which inspires the song of the
bird; it is in spring that they experience the want both to love and
to sing; it is the males which have most desire, and it is they who
sing the most. They continue to sing during the greater part of the
year if we preserve around them a perpetual spring, which incessantly
renews their ardour, without affording an occasion for extinguishing
it; this happens to caged nightingales, and even, as it has been
already mentioned, to those which have been taken full grown. Some
have been known to begin to sing with all their strength a few hours
after being caught. They must, however, have been insensible of their
loss of liberty at first. They would starve the first seven or eight
days if they were not fed, and would injure their heads against the
top of the cage if their wings were not tied; but at last the passion
for singing prevails, because it is produced by a still deeper
passion.

"The songs of other birds, the sounds of instruments, the tones of a
sweet sonorous voice, excite them much. They run, they approach,
attracted by the sweet sounds; but duets attract them still more
powerfully, which would seem to prove that they are sensible to the
effects of harmony. They do not continue silent auditors, they join
the performance, and use all their efforts to eclipse their rivals,
to surpass all the other voices, and even all other sounds. It is
said that they have been known to drop down dead at the feet of a
person singing. Another has been seen fluttering, swelling his
throat, and uttering an angry warble every time a canary which was
near him, began to sing; he succeeded by his threats in imposing
silence, so true is it, that superiority is not always free from
jealousy. Can it be in consequence of the passion for pre-eminence,
that these birds are so careful to seize every advantage, and that
they prefer singing in a place favourable to sound, or within reach
of an echo?

"All nightingales do not sing equally well. Some are so very inferior
as not to be worth keeping. It has even been thought that the song of
the nightingale is different in different countries. In England,
those who are curious respecting these birds, prefer, it is said,
those of the county of Surrey, to those of Middlesex; as they prefer
the greenfinch of Essex, and the goldfinch of Kent. This diversity of
song among birds of the same species has very rationally been
compared to the different dialects of the same language. The true
causes can hardly be assigned, as they are for the most part
accidental. A nightingale may perhaps have heard other singing birds,
or emulation may have caused him to perfect his song, which he thus
transmits improved to his descendants, for every father is the
singing master of his family; and it is easy to perceive that in
succeeding generations the song may be still further improved or
modified by similar accidents.

"After the month of June, the nightingale sings no more, and he
retains only a hoarse cry, a sort of croaking, by which the melodious
Philomel cannot be recognised, and it is not surprising that
formerly, in Italy, they gave him a different name under these
circumstances. He is indeed another bird, a bird altogether different
in respect of voice, and even, in a great degree, in respect of the
colour of his plumage.

"Among nightingales, as well as other species, some females are found
participating in the constitution of the male, his habits, and
especially in his musical powers. I have seen, in confinement, one of
these female singers. Her warble resembled that of the male, but was
neither so strong nor so varied. She preserved it till spring; but
then subduing the exercise of her talent to the natural duties of her
sex, she became silent, in order to build her nest, and to lay,
though she was solitary. It appears that, in warm countries, such as
Greece, it is very common to see these female singers, and respecting
this species and many others we may draw the same inference from a
passage of Aristotle. One would hardly imagine that so varied a song
as that of the nightingale is confined within a single octave; this
is, however, the result of the attentive observations of a man of
taste (M. le docteur Remond). He remarked, indeed, some sharp tones
which formed the double octave, and which were emitted like
lightning; but this happens rarely, and when the bird by a powerful
effort of the gullet raises his voice to the octave.

"The same observer discovered shakes on the third, fourth, and
octave, but always from sharp to flat; cadences, generally in the
minor, on almost every note; but no arpeggios, no coherent design."

Independent of these talents, the nightingale possesses a quality
very likely to augment the number of his friends; he is capable,
after some time, of forming attachments. When once he has made
acquaintance with the person who takes care of him, he distinguishes
his step before seeing him; he welcomes him by a cry of joy; and,
during the moulting season, he is seen making vain efforts to sing,
and supplying by the gaiety of his movements, and the expression of
his looks, the demonstrations of joy which his throat refuses to
utter. When he loses his benefactor, he sometimes pines to death; if
he survives it is long before he is accustomed to another[83]. His
attachments are long, because they are not hasty, as is the case with
all wild and timid dispositions.

THE GREATER NIGHTINGALE.

Motacilla Luscinia major, LINNÆUS; Le Grand Rossignol, ou La
Progné[84], BUFFON; Der Sprosser, BECHSTEIN.

Naturalists make this bird only a variety, or at most, only a species of the common nightingale; but I find points of difference so numerous and so striking, that I think it right to make it a distinct species. 1. It is larger by an inch and a half in length, being six inches and a half, of which the tail, also half an inch longer, occupies two and three-quarters; 2. The head is larger, and the beak is thicker; 3. The colours are different; 4. The song is different. With respect to gait, manner, habits, and the like, it is true there is a resemblance, which exists, however, only in common with the white-throats, and the blackcap, which have never been considered as varieties of the nightingale.

The upper part of the body is a dusky brownish grey; the throat is white bordered with black; the breast is brown, with darker spots; the belly dirty white; the wings are deep brown, edged with dirty red; the tail and its upper large coverts dirty maroon, deeper than in the common nightingale; the whole plumage, in short, is generally and in all parts deeper and darker.

OBSERVATIONS.--The difference in the song is very remarkable. The
greater nightingale has a much stronger, louder, and deeper voice;
but it sings more slowly and more unconnectedly; it has not that
astonishing variety, those charming protractions, and harmonious
conclusions of the common nightingale; it mutilates all the strains;
and, on this account, its song has been compared to the
missel-thrush, to which, however, it is superior in softness and
pureness. The common nightingale is superior in delicacy and variety,
but inferior in force and brilliancy. The greater nightingale sings
generally in the night, so that it is the real night-singer; while
among nightingales this is rather uncommon. Its voice is so loud that
it is almost impossible to bear it in a room. It is necessary to keep
it always outside the window, either by hanging its cage there, or by
opening from it a sort of passage into which it can remove.

Its call is also very different; _hi! glack arrr!_ It seems also to
pronounce _David, Jacob_, and generally begins its song by the latter
word. If the song is complete, it consists of the following strains:--

_Guia, gu, gu, gu.
Hajai, hajai, dzu, dzu, dzu, dzu.
Gorgué, guéguéguéguéguéh,
Hoa goigoigoi gui.
Dzicka, dzicka, dzicka.
Davitt, davitt, davitt.
Gogock, gogock.
Guedum, guedum, guedum, guedum, gueï!
Gai, goi, goi, goi, guirrrr.
Golka, golka, golka, golk.
Hia, guiaguiaguiaguia.
Glockglockglockglockglockglock.
Gueai, gueaigueai gui!
Goi, guaguaguagua guagui.
Heid, heid, heid, heid hi.
Voi dada! voi dada!
Gai, gai, gai, gai, guirr, guirr.
Hoi, gueguegue gui.
Hoi goi._

This bird is not found in any part of Thuringia. There are some in
Silesia, Bohemia, Pomerania, near Wittenberg, Halle, and Dessau; but
in Austria, Hungary, and Poland, they are in some districts more
abundant than the common nightingale[85]. They generally settle among
the bushes of the hills and plains, and especially near rivers. When
caged they are fed like nightingales. They are less delicate,
however, and live much longer.

They are chiefly brought from Vienna to Thuringia, whence they have
the name of Vienna Nightingales. Some people make a business of
fetching them from Hungary, in the beginning of April, where they buy
them cheap, in order to sell them very dear, in Saxony and other
remote provinces. Those from Hungary are preferred to the Polish. A
distinguishing characteristic is, that they first pronounce the
_davitt_ or _jacob_ only once when they call; while the second repeat
_davitt_ many times in succession.

At Thorn, and all along the Vistula, where the common and the large
nightingale equally abound, the latter is called the Polish
Nightingale, and the former, the Nightingale of Saxony. The nest of
the greater nightingale is built like that of the nightingale; but
the eggs are larger, and of an olive brown, with dark shades.

These birds are caught like nightingales; their diseases, also, are
similar; but they appear to suffer still more when moulting; they
become dull and ill, and often die under it. It is usual to give them
at this crisis some spiders, and the grubs which gnaw wood; what,
however, after many experiments, appears most salutary, is the Golden
Tincture of Halle[86], one or two drops of which are poured into the
drinking-trough.

THE BLACKCAP.

Sylvia atricapilla, BECHSTEIN; La Fauvette à tête noire,
BUFFON; Die schwarzköpfige Grasmücke, BECHSTEIN.

This distinguished singer among birds, bears, in Germany, the name of _Monk_, or _Moor_, from the black or brown cap which covers the top of his head. These two colours have led some to divide them into two species, but it is quite certain that they only designate the sex; the black marking the male, and the brown the female. Its length is five inches and five-sixths, two and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak is five lines in length, formed like that of the nightingale, and is of a brownish blue, with the edges of the lower base and the interior of a yellowish white; the iris maroon; the feet ten lines high, are dark ash-colour; all the top of the head is black; the cheeks and upper part of the neck are light ash-colour; the upper part of the body, as well as the coverts of the wings, ash-colour, tending to olive; the under part of the body is light grey, fading to white under the belly and breast; the sides and thighs are the same colour as the back; the under coverts of the tail and wings are speckled gray and white; the pen-feathers and tail-feathers are dark brown, edged with the colour of the back.

The female is rather larger; her cap is reddish brown; the upper part of her body reddish grey, tending to olive; the cheeks and throat are light grey; the breast, the sides, and the thighs, are light grey, varying to light olive; the belly is reddish white.

The silky plumage of this bird is so delicate and frail, that it is rare to see one in confinement, whether hopping freely, or caged, which has not its tail or its wings disfigured.

HABITATION.--When wild, this bird is found throughout Europe,
inhabiting woods and orchards, or their vicinity; it particularly
loves thick copse-wood. In September it leaves our climate, and
returns about the middle of April, to enliven our woods by its
brilliant and well supported song.

In confinement, when it is allowed to hop about, it is provided with
a branch, or a roost furnished with several sticks, because it walks
with difficulty, and prefers perching, on which account a cage is
better adapted to it. At the time for departure, these birds, urged
by the instinct to travel, are much agitated, especially in the
night, by moonlight. The desire to rove is so strong, that they often
fall ill and die.

FOOD.--When wild, the blackcap feeds on small caterpillars,
butterflies, flies, in short, of all kinds, on insects and their
grubs; in time of need, on berries and fruits also[87].

In confinement this bird does very well on the universal paste, with
which a little bruised hemp seed is mixed, and occasionally meal
worms, ants' eggs, or insects. In summer and autumn he is supplied
with elderberries, and they are also dried, in order that he may
have some in winter, soaked in water, which is found very good for
his health. He is a great eater, and when at liberty in the bird room
partakes of everything, meat, bread, and even vegetables. As he is
generally caught in the autumn he is soon accustomed to artificial
food, by having elderberries and meal worms mixed with it for several
successive days. He is fond of bathing, and must be always well
supplied with fresh water.

BREEDING.--This species generally lays but once a year, occasionally
twice, and even thrice. His nest, placed near the ground, generally
in a hedge or bush of white-thorn, is hemispherical, solid, and well
built; the outside of stalks, deserted cocoons, and stubble, the
inside of fine soft hay, mixed with hair. It contains from four to
six eggs, of a yellowish white mottled with yellow and spotted with
brown. The young are fed with small caterpillars, insects, and
currants; those which are brought up by hand are fed with white bread
and milk. The charming tone of their voice gives to their own song,
as well as to that of the nightingale and canary, which they easily
learn to imitate, a sweetness and grace which are enchanting. Before
moulting there is so little difference between the young males and
females that it requires great skill to distinguish them, for the cap
of the former is only a slight shade darker of olive brown, and the
back a greyish brown, rather more tinted with olive; but on the first
moulting the head of the male begins to blacken first behind the
beak, while that of the female retains its original colour, except
that it becomes more bright and distinct. When it is wished to
ascertain the sex of these young birds, the best plan is to pull out
a few brown feathers from the head; if it is a male, black ones will
come up in their place, and thus there will be no danger of taking
females by mistake; these, however, would soon be known, because the
males begin to warble as soon as they are able to fly and feed
themselves.

DISEASES.--The blackcap is subject to the same diseases as the
nightingale, but is more frequently attacked by decline. As soon as
the symptoms appear he must be fed with a great many meal worms and
ants' eggs, and his drinking water must be impregnated with iron, by
putting a nail into it. Those which are left to run about the room
are apt to lose their feathers. Under such circumstances they must be
caged, and exposed to the warmth of the sun or the fire; they must be
well fed, especially with the food given to nightingales; these
methods generally restore them, and their feathers are gradually
renewed. A tepid bath, repeated for two or three days, is very likely
to help their development. In epileptic or paralytic attacks I make
them swallow, with great success, two or three drops of olive oil; I
lately had the pleasure of seeing the success of this remedy on a
bird of this species suffering from an apoplectic fit, and which
dragged his little paralysed foot about the room where he lived
uncaged; he is now quite recovered, very gay, and active; his song
was never before so delightful to me. These birds generally live in
captivity as long as nightingales.

MODES OF TAKING.--Every taste but that of the palate must be destroyed
if this charming bird is caught for the table. Besides, it is by no
means numerous; but if it is desired as an ornament to the house,
snares baited with currants must be laid for it in July and August,
the greatest care being taken to save the feet, which are very likely
to be broken. Patience is very necessary in order to succeed, for it
is a very suspicious bird, approaching slowly, and falling into the
snare only when pressed by hunger. The same suspicious disposition
causes it to repair with repugnance to the water trap, though in
other situations it delights in water, and often bathes. If it
perceives anything unusual it will remain for hours without
approaching, and will pass twenty times by currants which are hung up
as a bait without touching them, though very greedy of this food; but
if it sees another bird bathe, or drink, it takes courage, and soon
falls into the trap. The young, before moulting, still foolish and
inexperienced, are more careless, and may be taken in great numbers
in autumn; and in the spring they are as easy to catch as the
nightingale, by means of a net or limed twigs, in a place cleared
from moss and turf, and baited with meal worms and ants' eggs.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--It is perhaps a sufficient eulogium to say that
this bird rivals the nightingale, and many persons even give it the
preference. If it has less volume, strength, and expression, it is
more pure, easy, and flute-like in its tones, and its song is perhaps
more varied, smooth, and delicate. It sings also for a much longer
period, both when wild and in confinement, its song being hardly
suspended throughout the year by day, and prolonged, like that of the
nightingale, far into the night, though begun at dawn. The female
sings also, but in a more limited degree, very much like the
red-breast, which has caused it to be mistaken for a particular
species with a redcap. The call is a sort of smart "_tack_," repeated
quickly several times. The sudden view of an unknown object, or of an
imminent danger, makes it utter a hoarse disagreeable cry of fear,
very like a cat when hurt[88].

THE FAUVETTE.

Sylvia hortensis, LATHAM; La Fauvette, BUFFON; Die graue
Grasmücke, BECHSTEIN.

The length of this bird is five inches, two and a half of which belong to the tail. The beak, five lines in length, and formed as in the preceding, is brown below, light lead-colour above, and whitish within; the iris is brownish grey; the feet, nine lines high, are strong, and lead-colour; the upper part of the body is reddish grey, tinted slightly with olive brown; the cheeks are darker, and round the eyes whitish; the under part of the body, including the breast and sides, is light reddish grey; the belly is white as far as the under coverts of the tail, which are tinged with reddish grey; the knees are grey; the pen-feathers and tail-feathers are brownish grey, edged with the colour of the back, and spotted with white at the tips; the under coverts of the wings are reddish yellow.

The female differs only in having the under part of the body, as far as the breast, of a lighter colour.

HABITATION.--When wild, this bird, which is found all over Europe,
appears to prefer the groves and bushes which skirt the forests, as
well as orchards in their vicinity. He arrives some days before the
nightingale, and departs at the end of September.

In confinement he is treated like the blackcap, and, being more
delicate, must be furnished with a cage.

FOOD.--When wild the fauvette feeds on small caterpillars and the
other little insects which are found on the bushes, where he is
continually searching for them, uttering at the same time the
sweetest and softest song. After midsummer he appears very fond of
cherries; he eats the pulp up to the stone, and this causes his beak
to be at this season always stained; he also likes red currants and
elderberries.

In confinement he is so great an eater that if he is not caged he
hardly ever quits the feeding-trough of the nightingale. Though he is
more easily tamed than the blackcap, he seldom survives more than two
or three years, and the artificial food is no doubt the cause. He
appears very fond of the universal paste; but I have often observed
that it causes the feathers to fall off to so great a degree that he
becomes almost bare, and then I think he dies of cold rather than
from any other cause[89].

BREEDING.--The nest of the fauvette, placed in a hedge or bush of
white-thorn, at about three feet above the ground, is well built on
the outside with blades of grass and roots, and inside with the
finest and softest hay, very seldom with moss. The edges are fastened
with spiders' webs and dry cocoons. The female lays four or five
eggs, of a yellowish white, spotted all over with light ash grey and
olive brown. The young, which are hatched after fifteen days'
sitting, are no sooner fledged than they jump out of the nest the
moment it is approached.

DISEASES.--They are the same as in the blackcap; but the fauvette is
still more subject to the loss of its feathers. It fattens so fast
upon the first universal paste that it often dies from this cause.

MODE OF TAKING.--These birds may be caught during the whole of the
summer with nooses and springes baited with cherries, red currants,
or elderberries. They go also very readily to the water trap, from
seven to nine in the morning, and in the evening a little before
sunset.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--"Of the inhabitants of our woods," says Buffon,
"fauvettes are the most numerous and agreeable. Lively, nimble,
always in motion, they seem occupied only with play and pleasure; as
their accents express only joy, it is a pretty sight to watch them
sporting, pursuing, and enticing each other; their attacks are
gentle, and their combats end with a song."

THE WHITE-BREAST[90]

Motacilla Fruticeti, LINNÆUS; La Petite Fauvette, BUFFON; Die
rostgraue Grasmücke, BECHSTEIN.

This bird, which is but little known, resembles in most points the preceding, but its figure is smaller and its plumage darker. Its length is four inches and three quarters, of which two and a half (being more than half of the whole) belong to the tail. The beak, four lines in length, is brown above and yellowish white below and on the edges; the iris dark brown; the feet, nine lines in height, are pale lead-colour; all the upper part of the body, comprising the wing-coverts, is dusky reddish grey, darker towards the head and lighter towards the rump.

I have never been able to discover any difference between the plumage of the male and female.

OBSERVATIONS.--This bird arrives among us towards the end of April. It
frequents hilly places covered with bushes and briars, among which it
builds its nest, about four or five feet from the ground, and among
the thickest foliage. The eggs, five in number, are whitish, mottled
with bluish brown, and speckled with dark maroon. Incubation lasts
but thirteen days. At first the young are fed with the smallest
caterpillars, afterwards with larger ones, flies, and other insects;
but as soon as they can fly they accompany their parents in search of
cherries, red currants, elderberries, and, later in the season, the
berries of the service tree. The family departs together in the month
of September, and then some are taken in nooses or springes baited
with elderberries. But this species is not much valued, and does not
therefore excite the attention of bird-catchers, who give the
preference to the fauvette.

However, this bird is an excellent singer, and though his voice is
not so clear and flute-like as that of the fauvette, yet by skilfully
introducing his call into his warble, he produces a very striking and
agreeable variety. This species is fed and treated like the
preceding, but with still greater care, for it is even more delicate.
With all my care I have never been able to preserve it more than two
years at the utmost: the difficulty, however, does not appear to
proceed from the diet, for being caught in the autumn it soon gets
accustomed to the food of the nightingale, by first giving it the
berries which it selects in a state of freedom.

THE DUNNOCK, OR HEDGE SPARROW.

Accentor modularis, BECHSTEIN; La Fauvette d'hiver, ou Traine
Buisson, BUFFON; Die Braunelle, BECHSTEIN.

This species, which in its gait resembles the wren, seems also a link between its own species and that of the lark, for it does not confine itself to insects; it eats all sorts of small seeds, such as those of the poppy and the grasses. Its length is five inches and a quarter, two and a quarter of which belong to the tail. The beak, five lines in length, is very sharp, black, whitish at the tip, and the inside rose-colour; the iris purple; the legs, nine lines in height, are yellowish flesh-colour; the narrow head is, together with the neck, dark ash-colour, marked with very dark brown, like that of the sparrow; the breast a deep slate-colour.

The breast of the female is lighter and bluish grey; she has also more brown spots on her head.

HABITATION.--When wild it is found all over Europe, making its abode
in thick deep forests. It is with us a bird of passage; but some
individuals, which come from quite the north, remain during the
winter near our dwellings, searching the heaps of wood and stones,
the hedges and fences, and, like the wren, entering barns and
stables. Those which leave us return at the end of March, stop for
some time in the hedges, and then penetrate into the woods.

In confinement this bird is so wakeful and gay that it may be safely
left at liberty in the room, having a roosting-place for the night;
it is also kept in a cage.

FOOD.--When wild, the great variety of things which serve it for food
prevent its ever being at a loss throughout the year. It is equally
fond of small insects and worms and small seeds. In spring it feeds
on flies, caterpillars, grubs, and maggots, which it seeks for in the
hedges, bushes, and in the earth. In summer it feeds chiefly on
caterpillars; in autumn on seeds of all kinds and elderberries; and
in winter, when the snow has covered all seeds, it has recourse to
insects hid in the cracks and crevices of walls and trees.

In confinement it will eat anything that comes to table. It is fond
of the universal paste, hemp, rape, and poppy-seeds, and refuses none
of these things immediately on being imprisoned, and it soon seems as
completely at ease as if accustomed to confinement[91].

BREEDING.--This species lays generally twice a year; placing its nest
among the thickest bushes, about five or six feet from the ground;
the outside is composed of mosses, and fibres of roots, and wood, and
the inside is lined with the fur of deer, hares, and the like. The
eggs, five or six in number, are bright bluish green. The young are
no sooner fledged than, like the preceding, they quit the nest. Their
plumage is then very different from that of their parents: the breast
is spotted with grey and yellow, the back with brown and black;
lastly, the nostrils and angles of the beak are rose-coloured. They
are easily reared on white bread and poppy-seeds moistened with milk.
As soon as they are tamed these birds have a great inclination to
build in the room. The male and female collect all the little straws,
threads, and similar materials which they can find, to build a nest
among the boughs with which they are supplied for the purpose. The
female lays even when solitary; they may be paired with red-breasts,
and these unions succeed very well.

DISEASES.--If it were generally true, that birds in a wild state are
never ill, this species must be excepted; for, however strange it may
appear, the young are subject to the small pox; they are attacked by
it while in the nest, or even after they can fly. I have a young bird
of this kind, which, at a time when this disease prevailed in my
neighbourhood, took it; he recovered, however, tolerably well, but he
entirely lost the tail-feathers, which were never afterwards renewed.
Old ones are sometimes caught or killed whose feet and eyes are
ulcerated, or have tumours on them; perhaps they may be only
chilblains. Weavers' stoves appear to be particularly injurious to
these birds; in two or three months their eyes swell, and the
feathers fall off all round them; the beak is attacked with scurvy,
which spreads to the feet, then all over the body; but they
nevertheless continue to live from eight to ten years in these rooms.

MODE OF TAKING.--This is very easy at their return in the spring. As
soon as they appear in the hedges, where they soon discover
themselves by the cry "_issri_," a little place near, where the earth
is bare, must be found; after having placed limed twigs, and thrown
among them earth or meal worms for a bait, the dunnock is gently
driven towards them without alarming him; as soon as he perceives the
worms he darts upon them and falls into the snare. In the autumn they
may be caught in the area and with a noose; in winter in the
white-throat's trap; but they resort in the greatest numbers to the
water trap, not so much for the sake of bathing as to seek for dead
insects or decayed roots.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--However agreeable this bird may be in the room,
from its good humour, agility, gaiety, and song, it does not deserve
the name of winter nightingale, which it bears in some places; its
song is too simple and short; it is a little couplet, composed of a
strain of the lark and one of the wren. The sounds _tchondi, hondi,
hondi_ are repeated frequently and for a long time, always descending
a sixth, and gradually diminishing in power. This song is accompanied
with an uninterrupted movement of the wings and tail, and lasts
through the year, except at the moulting season. Some young ones,
reared in confinement, will, if placed beside a fine singing bird,
learn enough of its song to embellish their own. But, whatever may be
asserted on the subject, they never succeed in imitating the
nightingale. When the dunnock disputes with its fellow captives for a
place or for food its anger evaporates in a song, like the crested
lark and the wagtail.

THE RED-BREAST.

Motacilla rubecula, LINNÆUS; Le Rouge-gorge, BUFFON; Das
Rothkelchen, BECHSTEIN.

The red-breast is almost universally known in Europe. It is five inches and three quarters long, two and a quarter of which belong to the tail. The beak is five lines in length, and horn brown, with the lower base and the inside yellow; the iris is deep brown; the shanks, eleven lines in height, are of the same colour; the forehead, cheeks, and under part of the body, from the beak to the bottom of the breast, are orange red; the upper part of the body and the wing-coverts dingy olive; the first wing-coverts have at their tip a little triangular spot.

The female, which is rather smaller, is not so orange-coloured on the forehead, and this colour is not so bright upon the breast; the shanks are a purplish brown; yellow spots are almost always absent from the wing-coverts; the old females alone having very small yellow marks.

The males of the first year, which are caught in the spring, very much resemble the females: they have but very small yellow spots, and sometimes none; the breast is saffron yellow; but the feet are the distinguishing mark, being always very dark brown.

This species has varieties, as the white red-breast and the variegated red-breast. In confinement, by sometimes removing successively the quill-feathers and tail-feathers out of the moulting season, they will at last be replaced by white ones. These birds are very pretty; I have had several in this way, but I have observed that these last feathers are so weak and delicate that they are easily injured and broken. This repeated operation must give pain to the little creatures, on which account it should be avoided.

HABITATION.--When wild, these birds are found in abundance during the
period of migration, on hedges and bushes, but in summer they must be
sought in the woods. "This retreat," it has been said, "is necessary
to their happiness: the male is engrossed with the society of his
mate, all other company is troublesome; he pursues eagerly the birds
of his species, and drives them from the district he has chosen for
himself; the same bush never contains two pairs of these birds." The
red-breasts return to us (in Germany) about the middle of March[92];
they stop for about a fortnight in the hedges, and then proceed into
the woods. In October they return towards the bushes, which they
busily search as they travel, and proceed gradually to their
destination. Some delay their departure till November, some will even
remain here and there throughout the winter, but generally to their
cost, as their life is usually sacrificed by these delays. Necessity
then forces them to draw near to houses, dunghills, and stables,
where they are generally caught by men or cats, or die of hunger and
cold if the frost is long and severe, and the snow deep. Care must be
taken in hard weather not to transport them suddenly into a warm
room, the rapid change from cold to heat invariably kills them. They
should at first be put in a cold room, and be gradually accustomed to
warm air; with these precautions they will do as well as those which
are caught in the autumn or spring.

In confinement the inhabitants of my neighbourhood like to see
red-breasts hopping about the room, and they make a roost for them of
oak or elm branches. They find that this bird destroys flies and even
bugs. Such a situation appears to agree with him very well, as he
lives in this way from ten to twelve years. He is so jealous and
unsociable that he must not have a companion; he must be quite alone;
a second would cause battles which would end only with the death of
one of the combatants; if, however, they are equal in strength, and
in a large room, they will divide it, and each taking possession of
his half, they remain in peace, unless one should pass his limits, in
which case war begins, and is maintained to the last extremity.

In order the better to enjoy their pretty song, they are provided
with a cage generally resembling that of the nightingale.

FOOD.--When wild the red-breast feeds on all sorts of insects, which
are pursued with great skill and agility; sometimes this bird is seen
fluttering like a butterfly round a leaf on which is a fly, or if he
sees an earth-worm he hops forward flapping his wings, and seizes it.
In autumn he eats different sorts of berries.

In confinement, by giving him at first some earth or meal worms, and
in the autumn elderberries, he soon gets accustomed to eat anything:
he picks up crumbs of bread, the little fibres of meat, and the like,
but cheese appears his favourite food. When hopping about the
bird-room he likes the universal paste very much[93]. He chiefly
requires a regular supply of fresh water, both for drinking and
bathing; and he makes himself so wet as to conceal the colours of his
plumage.

BREEDING.--The red-breast lays twice a year. The nest, placed near the
ground, either among moss, in the crevices of stones, among the roots
of a tree, or in the hole of an old felled trunk, is carelessly
formed of moss, lined with fine hay, hair, and feathers. She lays
from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white, with lines and spots
joined and mixed together of a reddish colour; the colours become
deeper as the spots approach the large end, where they form a crown
of a light brown colour. The young birds are at first covered with
yellow down, like chickens, they then become grey, and their feathers
are edged with dusky yellow; they do not acquire the orange red till
they have moulted. They are easily reared on white bread soaked in
boiled milk. When their cage is placed beside a nightingale they
acquire some parts of his song, which, introduced into their own,
make a very pretty mixture.

DISEASES.--Their most common disorder is diarrhoea, for which some
spiders are administered. Decline is often cured with plenty of ants'
eggs and meal-worms; but indigestion often proves fatal, especially
when it arises from having eaten too many earth-worms. It may,
however, be cured by making the bird swallow spiders and meal-worms.

MODE OF TAKING.--In spring, when the red-breasts frequent the hedges
and bushes, sticks are passed transversely through them, on which
limed twigs are fastened, then two persons gently beat the hedge or
bush to drive the birds towards the twigs, where they are soon
caught, for red-breasts have the habit of perching on all the little
low projecting branches, in order that they may discover earth-worms.
This sort of red-breast chase is very common in Thuringia, where many
persons keep them. Limed twigs may also be put in a bare place with
earth or meal-worms, just as for the dunnock. The small nightingale
net and the white-throat trap catch many. They are also caught at the
water trap; but the greatest number are caught in autumn with the
noose, baited with elderberries, which are at that season their
favourite food. If they are caught for the room (and it is a pity to
hunt so pretty a bird for the table), it is necessary, in order to
preserve their feet, to cover the springes with felt or cork.

ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--His pretty plumage, tricks, and great
sociability would be enough to make him charming. He is soon tamed,
so as to come upon the table and eat from a plate or the hand; his
cheerfulness and agility must also give pleasure, always in motion,
and bowing after every hop and calling "_sisri_;" but he is
particularly valued on account of his song. This song is generally
more perfect and altogether superior when he is caged than when
hopping about the room. There are however exceptions. The red-breast
sings throughout the year, but in spring his voice is most brilliant
and his melody most enchanting. In a country residence it is very
easy to teach this bird to go and come, whether reared from the nest
or caught full grown.

THE BLUE-BREAST.

Motacilla Suecica, LINNÆUS; La Gorge bleue, BUFFON; Das
Blaukehlchen, BECHSTEIN.

This bird may be considered as intermediate between the redstart and the common wagtail, having very strong points of resemblance with both. Its length is five inches and a half, of which the tail occupies two and a quarter. The beak is sharp and blackish, yellow at the angles; the iris is brown; the shanks are fourteen lines high, of a reddish brown, and the toes blackish; the head, the back, and the wing-coverts are ashy brown, mottled with a darker tint; a reddish white line passes above the eyes; the cheeks are dark brown, spotted with rust red, and edged at the side with deep ash grey; a brilliant sky blue covers the throat and half way down the breast; this is set off by a spot of the most dazzling white, the size of a pea, placed precisely over the gullet, which, enlarging and diminishing successively, by the movement of this part when the bird sings, produces the most beautiful effect.

Some males have two little white spots on the throat, some even have three, while others have none; these latter are probably very old, for I have observed that as the bird grows older the blue deepens, and the orange band becomes almost maroon.

It is easy to distinguish the female; when young she has a celestial blue tint on the sides of the throat; this tint deepens with age, and forms two longitudinal lines on the sides of the neck; no orange band; the throat and gullet are yellowish blue, edged longitudinally with a black line; the feet are flesh-coloured.

HABITATION.--When wild this species exists all over Europe[94]. It is
a bird of passage, and when returning towards the north, in the
beginning of April, it stops in large flights near streams, in
hedges, and damp fields, comes even into courts, and on the dunghills
of farms, if surprised by snow and a severe return of cold. In the
summer it frequents those parts among the mountains abounding with
water; in August it approaches cabbage fields enclosed by hedges or
bushes. It is very seldom that one or two pairs build in our country.

In confinement it may be let run about; it soon grows so tame as to
come when called, and feed from the hand. Its rapid motions and races
are amusing; but it must not be allowed to fly high enough to get on
the tables and furniture, as it would soon dirty them. It sings
better and longer when caged. The cage should be, like the
nightingale's, large enough for the bird not to spoil its beautiful
feathers; the tail-feathers easily drop if they are rubbed.

FOOD.--When wild the blue-breast feeds on all sorts of insects; it
also eats elderberries.

In confinement it must at first be fed with ants' eggs, meal-worms,
and even some earth-worms. If it is kept uncaged these things must be
thrown upon the universal paste, which it will thus learn to relish;
but though it is easily reconciled to it, ants' eggs, earth and
meal-worms, must nevertheless be occasionally supplied, or it will
soon die in decline. When caged it is fed like nightingales, and on
that food it will live seven or eight years. It is a great eater, and
can devour in a day its own weight of the first universal paste, so
that it mutes incessantly. It requires a constant supply of fresh
water for drinking and bathing: it wets itself so much that it is
completely drenched. I have observed for several successive years
that it never bathes till the afternoon[95].

DISEASES.--Diarrhoea and decline are its commonest disorders. The
treatment has been pointed out in the Introduction.

MODE OF TAKING.--I often hear it said that the blue-breast is a rare
bird; that in some parts of Germany it appears only every five, or
even ten, years, but I can declare that this opinion arises from a
want of observation. Since I have taught my neighbours to be more
attentive to the time of their passage, they every year catch as many
as they please. If in the first fortnight of April, up to the 20th,
cold and snow return, plenty may be found by merely following the
streams, rivers, and ponds, especially in the neighbourhood of a
wood. A proper place is chosen, near the water and a bush, meal and
earth worms are thrown there, with limed twigs, and soon these poor
birds, if ever so little pushed towards it fall blindly into the
snare; they also fall into white-throat traps and nightingale nets.
In autumn, when they frequent cabbage grounds to hunt for
caterpillars, plenty may be caught by planting here and there sticks
with limed twigs fastened to them, baited with meal-worms. At this
season they sometimes go to the water trap, but this is not usual. If
it happens that any are caught in nooses or spring traps baited with
elderberries, hunger must have been the cause, and they must have
been entirely destitute of food.