tugs at any unfortunate worm which may chance to appear half in and half out of the ground. Winter drives him still nearer to the habitations of man; pert and lively, he hops around our door, and changing his food with the necessity of the season, picks up the crumbs of bread, which many make a point of scattering, that the "little trooping birds" may partake of those comforts with which a kind Providence has blessed their table. Cold as the season may be, covered as the ground may be with snow, the Robin is neither dull nor dispirited; let the gardener, after digging, leave his spade stuck in the ground for an instant, there he is perched upon it, peeping down in hopes of a prize; let the door of the outhouse or kitchen be open, and in he enters; and at our frostdimmed window, as soon as morning dawns, is heard his clear and lively song. He is a general favourite; his sprightliness, his beauty, his cheerful carol, and familiar visits to man, when "summer birds are flown," have won for him a welcome every where; to say nothing of a place in the pages of our first descriptive poets. We must, however, forbear to say more about him, and proceed.

The genus Erythaca leads by a natural transition to that of Phoenicura, (Swains.) a genus also confined to the old world, and comprehending but few species; they are, however, well characterized.

The typical example of this genus is the REDSTart. (Phanicura ruticilla.) The Redstart is one of the most elegant of the migratory warblers; the black, white, gray, and flame colour which ornament its plumage being conjoined with a graceful form, and active sprightly manners. In this respect it is not unlike the redbreast, but is more frequently seen to dart at its insect food while passing; accompanying every action with a peculiar vibratory motion of the tail, which is continued for several seconds on its alighting, suspended while it trips along the ground, but resumed the moment it stops. Besides insects, the Redstart, as well as the redbreast, sometimes adds berries to its diet.

This animated little bird is by no means recluse or shy, but frequents gardens and orchards, close to the habitation of man, building in a hole in the wall, or between the wall and branch of a fruit tree, in a shed, or toolhouse, in short, wherever a convenient place affords. A pair built for two years in a hollow ornamental vase in a garden. The eggs are of a fine greenish blue. The song of the Redstart is very pleasing, though somewhat hurried. Gilbert White considers it superior to that of the whitethroat, which, after all, is no great compliment; it is, in fact, sweet, though neither loud nor brilliant. Arriving in April, it leaves England towards the latter end of September.

The plumage of the male is as follows. Forehead banded with white, stretching from eye to eye, below which is a stripe of black, which spreads out so as to occupy the sides of the face and ear-coverts, the throat, and chest. Back fine bluish gray; wings and two middle tail-feathers brown; tail-coverts, and the rest of the tailfeathers, brilliant flame colour, as is also the under surface; but there this rich hue fades off as it proceeds to dull white. The female differs considerably, her general plumage being of one uniform grayish brown, with the exception of the tail, which is dull rufous.

Of the other species of this genus, we may particularize the TITHYS, or Grey Redstart, (Phanicura Tithys,) the INDIAN REDSTART, (Ph. atrata,) the BlueFRONTED REDSTART, (Ph. frontalis, VIG.) also from India, and four or five new species from the Himalayan mountains.

We may now advance to the genus Curruca, (Bechst.) distinguished by a straight and slender beak, compressed at the point; it contains the most celebrated of our birds of song.

Of these the NIGHTINGALE (Curruca luscinia) cannot be passed by without notice. This delightful songster seldom visits England before the latter end of April or

the beginning of May, and departs in August, favouring us with its residence during the warmer season only of the year. Its localities, also, are as limited as its stay. In the midland counties it is scarce, in the northern but occasionally heard, and in the western, namely, Devonshire and Cornwall, almost unknown. As is the case

with all the migrating birds of the extensive family Sylviada, the males are the first to venture across the channel, when they disperse over the country, resorting to thick hedges, copses, and plantations, where their song resounds at eve, and where they wait the arrival of their expected mates. The females follow in a few days, though not always, for it sometimes happens that cold winds and unpropitious weather delay their arrival for ten days, or even a fortnight. Nothing can be more artfully constructed than the nest of this bird; and so well is it concealed, that it is one of the most difficult to discover. The outside is composed of dried leaves or grass, or of the skeleton-leaves which strew the banks and thick bottoms of hedges; the inside is lined with hair and soft fibres. Thus calculated to deceive the eye, it is placed low down in a thick bush, or hedge of luxuriant growth, amongst intertangled stems. The eggs are five in number, and of a greenish brown. Dr. Latham states, that, as is usual among the migrating warblers, the male bird "remains on the spot to which it first resorts, attracting the female by its song; and if by accident the female is killed, the male, which had become silent, resumes his song, and will continue to sing late in the summer, till he finds another mate, in which case they will breed at a later season." To this observation may be added, that it is only prior to the work of incubation that the notes of this bird are poured forth in their fullest melody: at the latter end of the season, before departure, its voice degenerates into a hoarse, unmusical note.

The Nightingale is spread over the greatest portion of the European continent and the proximate parts of Asia, though not to any great extent eastward of the border line. It is by many supposed to be the bulbul of the Persian poets: this is not the case; the melodious bulbul

is a species of the genus Ixos, a genus nearly allied to the Thrushes, being intermediate between them and the Sylviada. In fact, the Nightingale is not a native of India or Persia; the ixos or bulbul there taking its place as the "leader of the feathered choir." Sonnini tells us it is found in Lower Egypt. Thus from England, through Germany, Poland, France, Italy, and Palestine, is this unrivalled songster of the western regions of the old world distributed. Who would think of such a bird being ever destroyed to swell the luxuries of the table? Yet we read of Heliogabalus feasting on dishes made of the tongues of Nightingales; and Clodius Æsopus had a dish of the tongues of singing birds, among which those of Nightingales were included: this dish, according to Pliny, cost about six thousand eight hundred and forty-three pounds ten shillings of our money. What folly, and degrading luxury!

To keep the Nightingale in captivity is very difficult, and it is well that it is so. Why should we imprison the free born tenant of the air for our gratification? Why feast our ears upon the instinctive song of a prisoner torn from his mate, and fluttering to visit his grove, and finish his half-built nest? Must the desires of man, carried out into the extreme, be pampered at the expense of the lower creatures? We are apt to consider such animals as being of little value, or as utterly insignificant. Not so are they in the eyes of Him, without whose permission not even a sparrow falleth to the ground. To pursue the history of this bird, the favourite of poetry, Milton's

"wakeful bird, that sings darkling,"

would be superfluous. Its general plumage is of a reddish brown, becoming pale ash colour below.

Closely allied in form to the nightingale, are three species peculiar to the continent, of whose habits and manners, however, we have no detailed account. These are the Curruca philomela, C. sericea, and C. orphea. See Temminck's "Manuel d'Ornithologie," vol. i. p. 196, 197, 198.

Under the same genus are placed also the Blackcap, the Greater and the Lesser White-throats, the Garden Warbler, or Greater Pettychaps, and several foreign species.

The BLACKCAP (Curruca atricapilla) is scarcely inferior to the nightingale in his song, not only possessing a variety of rich and mellifluous notes, but also the power of imitating the voices of various other birds (different as they may be to his own) so admirably as to deceive the listener. It is, however, a very shy bird, and though frequenting gardens and groves, near human habitations, generally keeps itself concealed among the most umbrageous foliage. Insects, and the berries of our fruit trees, such as currants, and gooseberries of the smaller sort, constitute its food. The general plumage is brownish olive gray, the top of the head being black in the male, and reddish brown in the female.

To the genus Accentor (characterized by a more conical form of beak) belongs the well known HEDGE SPARROW, (Accentor modularis,) whose nest abounds in the hedges of our fields and gardens, containing eggs of a beautiful azure blue, too often becoming a prize to the thoughtless schoolboy. Unlike most of the Sylviadæ, this little warbler, whose notes, though soft, are exquisitely sweet, braves our winters, picking up a random meal, the larvæ of insects concealed in the crevices of bark, berries, seeds, and bread crumbs. Caterpillars in summer are eagerly sought for; hence this bird is a useful inmate of the garden.

The restricted genus Sylvia next claims notice. Besides the slender pointed bill, we find the wings somewhat lengthened, so as to reach the middle of the tail, which is slightly forked. The food consists entirely of the softer insects, which are either taken on the wing, or sought for beneath leaves and among the foliage of plants and bushes. Many of the species form the most ingenious

nests.

In England we are familiar with three closely allied