challenge. One reason, however, of this bird's being more attended to than others is that it sings in the night. Hence Shakspeare says: The Nightingale, if she should sing by day, When ev'ry goose is cackling, would be thought Bingley's Animal Biography 2, 183. "The Nightingale is a musician of the first order among the inhabitants of the groves. When all the birds, who during the day cheered us with their melody cease to be heard, then the Nightingale tunes her voice to animate the woods and groves. When we listen to the thrilling sounds of her voice, we are apt to conclude that the bird must be large, that her throat must have uncommon strength; and the inimitable charms of her melodious accents make us presume that in beauty she surpasses all other birds. But in vain do we seek these perfections in the Nightingale : she is a bird of a mean appearance, the color, form, and the whole exterior of which have nothing attractive or majestic; little, that appears to advantage. Nature, however, to compensate for her plainness has given her a voice, the charms of which are irresistible. Listen to her long, quavering notes-what richness, variety, sweetness, and elegance! When she begins to sing, she seems to study beforehand the melodious accents, which she is going to pour forth. She begins softly, then the notes swell gradually, and succeed each other with the rapidity of a torrent. She proceeds from grave to sprightly notes; from simple sounds to the wildest warblings; from the lightest turns and quavers to languishing sighs; and in each, possesses the art of pleasing the ear. This bird may give rise to a number of useful and edifying thoughts. For instance, we may learn from her this truth, that homeliness of body is sometimes united with amiable qualities, and does not preclude mental beauty. How unjustly do those act, who, attaching themselves only to the features of the face, and qualities merely external, neither praise nor blame any thing, but what strikes their senses; and who despise or treat with asperity those of their fellow creatures, who have bodily defects: let us learn to judge with more equity. Yes, a man deprived of the advantages of figure and fortune, may manifest in his conduct a wise and holy mind, and thus render himself worthy of our esteem. The perfections of the soul alone give a man true merit, and render him worthy of admiration: other things can only seduce those, who are incapable of estimating wisdom and virtue. Have we not seen persons, who were neither distinguished by birth nor fortune, render the most important services both to the Church and the State? Often illproportioned or deformed persons have shewn more magnanimity of soul than those, who were favored with the most beautiful and majestic form. This is a lesson, not to trust to appearances. Often those, whom we dare to despise, are found to be superior to ourselves. When we hear the skilful harmony of the Nightingale, should it not naturally lead us to that God, who is the Author of this talent? What wisdom must there be in the formation of this bird, which makes it capable of such sounds! Lungs so delicate, as those of the Nightingale, the motions of which are so violent, must be easily hurt, had they not the singular advantage of being attached to the vertebra of its back by a multitude of strong fibres. The opening of the windpipe is very wide, and this doubtless contributes much to the variety of its notes; which, while they charm the ear, may fill the soul with a sweet and pious delight. May we not here discover evidences of a wise and gracious Providence, and be excited by the songs of the Nightingale to glorify the Author of Nature? Amiable songstress, I will not leave thee, till I have learned of thee to celebrate thy Creator and mine! Pour by thy songs gratitude into the hearts of the many insensible mortals, who in these cheerful days contemplate with indifference the beauties of the creation!" Sturm's Reflections on the Works of God in Nature and Providence 2, 257. "The music of the Nightingale is exquisitely soft, and most delightfully modulated; and the little songster is the more endeared to us for being vocal only in the night, when the other warblers of the grove are silent." Natural History for Children 2, 141. Aristot. H. A. 1, 486. Schn.: "'H dè åŋdwv ädei μèv ovvex@s ἡμέρας καὶ νύκτας δεκαπέντε, ὅταν τὸ ὄρος ἤδη δασύνηται· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ᾄδει μὲν, συνεχῶς δ ̓ οὐκέτι· τοῦ δὲ θέρους προϊόντος ἄλλην ἀφίησι φωνὴν οὐδὲ τραχεῖαν καὶ ἐπιστρεφῆ, ἀλλ ̓ ἁπλῆν· καὶ τὸ χρῶμα μεταβάλλει, καὶ ἔν γε Ἰταλίᾳ τὸ ὄνομα ἕτερον καλεῖται περὶ τὴν ὥραν ταύτην. Φαίνεται δ ̓ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον· φωλεῖ γάρ. Scaliger in Theophr. C. Pl. p. 290.:-"Non est verum, aves toto corpore mutari; uam mutare pennas, quid id tandem est? quid etiam mutare vocem? Mutat etiam per ætatem homo vocem. Ideo dicit, δοκεῖν ἑτέρους. Sane Luscinia tam a verno suo cantu diversum canit sub autumnum, ut nulla ratione persuaderi possit agrestibus, eandem esse avem. Non ergo licuit ei dicere, rv öλāv. Non enim verum est, omnem corporis mutari partem. Notabis omnino,' See the New Greek Thesaurus p. 1284. c. "Hæc avis pulcherrime inter omnes aves, (nisi cuculis hanc laudem conferre et asino auscultare velis,) cantat, et tamen corpore est pusillo et admodum obscuro: unde Lacon apud Plut. Apophth. Lacon. æstimans corpus ex claritate vocis, cum devoraret lusciniam, et videret parum carnis inesse, dixit, Vox es prætereaque nihil. Admirandum autem est in tam parvo corpusculo tantas posse esse vires, ut sine intermissione canat non tantum integros dies, verum etiam per noctes. Nam quamprimum sylvæ incipiunt frondescere, ex latebra sua prodit, et 15 diebus et noctibus assiduo cantillat: unde natum est Proverbium, Somnus luscinia, de illis, qui summam diligentiam adhibent. " Post illos 15 dies adhuc quidem cantat, sed non amplius assiduo. Quando æstus augetur, pulcherrimam modulationem intermittit, et alia utitur voce, sed non tam varia et suavi. Non igitur diu canit, tum ne fatigetur, tum ne satietur. Utroque enim modo fieret, ut cantus ipsius vilesceret. Mares magis sunt vocales et cantores, quam feminæ; contrarium fit inter illum utrumque sexum humanum." Wolfgangi Franzii Historia Animalium p. 488. 2 "Lusciniis diebus ac noctibus continuis quindecim garrulus sine intermissu cantus, densante se frondium germine, non in novissimum digna miratu ave. Primum tanta vox tam parvo in corpusculo, tam pertinax spiritus. Deinde in una perfecta musica scientia modulatus editur sonus: et nunc continuo1 spiritu trahitur in longum, nunc variatur inflexo, nunc distinguitur conciso,3 copulatur intorto, promittitur revocato,5 infuscatur ex inopinato; interdum et secum ipse murmurat ;' plenus, gravis, acutus, creber, extentus; ubi visum est, vibrans, summus, medius, imus; breviterque omnia tam parvulis in faucibus, quæ tot exquisitis tibiarum tormentis ars hominum excogitavit: ut non sit dubium hanc suavitatem præmonstratam efficaci auspicio, quum in ore Stesichori ce 4 7 8 6 "Id carmine expressit haud invenusto vates non ignobilis : Harduin. Projicit in longum, nulloque plicabile flexu Præbet iter liquidum labenti in pectore voci." 2 "Variat sonum inflexo spiritu, quum præsertim cantus crispatur, il fredonne." Harduin. 3" Cæsim variato cantu, sive sibilis intercisis, eodem intervallo nihi lominus continuatis." Harduin. 4 "Quum multiplicis vocis modulos tremulo gutture ac veluti contorto spiritu, ingeminat: Galli vocant Roulemens; quidam, Roulades." Har duin. 5"Non jam emittens foris, sed intus revocans spiritum ac veluti resorbens, sibilum interim edit una contentione perpetuum, ac longiuscule productum. Sic paulo ante s. 29. de tetraonibus, Moriuntur spiritu revocato." Harduin. 6 "Obscuriorem vocem assimilat, ut aliam avem canere potius quam lusciniam putes." Harduin. 7 "Il gazouille. Satis eleganter idem Poëta: Harduin. Ex inopinato gravis intonat, et leve murmur 8 "Nunc æquabili vocis sono, nunc gravi ac submissiore, nunc acuto elatoque utitur, Il contrefait le fausset. Nunc eosdem sonos celeritate maxima devolvit, nunc eosdem protrahit longius. Quum lubet, summum vocis sonum affectat, le dessus; medium, la taille; imum, la basse contre." Harduin. 9 "Hoc est, instrumentis, quibus excogitandis concinnandisque apte hominum torquentur ingenia." Harduin. 1 cinit infantis. Ac ne quis dubitet artis esse, plures singulis sunt cantus, nec iidem omnibus, sed sui cuique. Certant inter se, palamque animosa contentio est. Victa morte finit sæpe vitam, spiritu prius deficiente, quam cantu. Meditantur aliæ juniores, versusque, quos imitentur, accipiunt. Audit discipula intentione magna, et reddit; vicibusque reticent. Intelligitur emendatæ correptio, et in docente quædam reprehensio. Ergo servorum illis pretia sunt: et quidem ampliora, quam quibus olim armigeri parabantur. Scio sestertiis sex, candidam alioquin, quod est prope inusitatum, vænisse, quæ Agrippinæ Claudii principis conjugi dono daretur. Visum jam sæpe, jussas canere cepisse, et cum symphonia alternasse: sicut homines repertos, qui sonum earum, addita in transversas arundines aqua, foramen inspirantes, linguæque parva aliqua opposita mora, indiscreta redderent similitudine. Sed eæ tantæ tamque artifices argutiæ a quindecim diebus paulatim desinunt, nec ut fatigatas possis dicere, aut satiatas. Mox æstu aucto in totum alia vox fit, nec modulata aut varia. Mutatur et color. Postremo hieme ipsa non cernitur. Linguis earum tenuitas illa prima non est, quæ ceteris avibus. Pariunt vere primo cum plurimum sena ova.” Plin. 10, 43. "It would perhaps be still more difficult to give a perfect translation of this passage from Pliny, than of the Fable of Strada. The attempt, however, has been made by an old English Author, Philemon Holland; and it is curious to remark the extraordinary shifts, to which he has been reduced in the search of corresponding expressions: Explorat numeros, chordaque laborat in omni. Surely this Bird is not to be set in the last place of those, that deserve admiration; for is it not a wonder that so loud and clear a voice should come from so little a body? Is it not as strange, that shee should hold her wind so long, and continue with it as shee doth? Moreover, she alone in her song keepeth time and measure truly; shee riseth and falleth in her note just with the rules of music and perfect harmony; for one while, in one entire - breath she drawes out her tune at length treatable; another while she quavereth, and goeth away as fast in her running points; sometime she maketh stops and short cuts in her notes; another time she gathereth in her wind, and singeth descant between her plain song; she fetcheth in her breath again, and then you shall have her in her catches and divisions: anon, all on a sudden, before a man would think it, she drowneth her voice, that one can scarce heare her; now and then she seemeth to record to herself, and then she breaketh out to sing voluntarie. In sum, she varieth and altereth her voice to all keies: one while full of her largs, longs, briefs, semibriefs, and minims; another while in her crotchets, quavers, semiquavers, and double semiquavers; for at one time you shall hear her voice full of loud, another time as low; drawn and anon shrill and on high; thick and short, when she list ; out at leisure again, when she is disposed; and then, (if she be so pleased,) shee riseth and mounteth up aloft, as it were with a wind-organ. Thus shee altereth from one to another, and sings all parts, the treble, the mean, and the base. To conclude, there is not a pipe or instrument devised with all the art and cunning of man, that can affoord more musick than this pretty bird doth out of that little throat of her's.-They strive, who can do best, and one laboreth to excel another in variety of song and long continuance; yea, and evident it is that they contend in good earnest with all their will and power: for oftentimes she, that hath the worse, and is not able to hold out with another, dieth for it, and sooner giveth she up her vital breath, than giveth over her song.' It must be remarked that Strada has not the merit of originality in his characteristic description of the song of the Nightingale. He found it in Pliny, and with still greater amplitude and variety of discrimination. He seems even to have taken from that Author the hint of his Fable." Tytler's Essay on the Principles of Translation p. 337. Ed. 2d. The verses of Strada are quoted in Classical Journal, 33, 179. Though there may be some truth in the observation of Lord Woodhouslee about Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's words, yet some allowance must be made for the variation, which time has made in the terms of the musical art. Naturalists speak of the Nightingale as being the only bird, which sings after sunset; and I should be glad to be informed whether this is really the fact? In the present year about one month earlier than the Nightingale was ever known to sing in Norfolk, according to the accurate observations of Mr. Marsham and Lord Suffield' made during a long course of years, I frequently in my early and late walks in the neighbourhood of Thetford, but for the first time on Febr. 3d., in the present year, heard what might pass for the Nightingale's song, but what was supposed to be the song of the Missel Thrush, Shrite, or Stormcock, Turdus Viscivorus Linn., La Drainè Buff. But, as writers on natural history do not attribute to the Missel Thrush the faculty of singing after sunset, I have doubted whether it was not the Nightingale itself. According to this paper, (which is entitled Lord Suffield's Remarks on Mr. Marsham's Indications of Spring, printed on one large sheet,) THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS |