3. The sand martin (hirundo riparia) is the smallest of our swallows, as well as the least numerous of them. It frequents the steep, sandy banks, in the neighbourhood of rivers, in the sides of which it makes deep holes, and places the nest at the end: this is carelessly constructed of straw, dry grass, and feathers. 4. The swift (hirundo apus) is the largest species, measuring nearly eight inches in length. Swifts are almost continually on the wing; they fly higher, and wheel with bolder wing than the swallows, with which they never intermingle. The life of the swift seems to be divided into two extremes; the one of the most violent exertion, the other of perfect inaction; for they either shoot through the air, or remain close in their holes. These birds build their nests in lofty steeples and high towers, and sometimes under the arches of bridges. The swift has been noticed at the Cape of Good Hope, and it probably visits the more remote regions of Asia. The next bird which appears, is that sweet warbler, the motacilla luscinia, or nightingale. Within the grove's Thick foliage perched, she pours her echoing voice, Although the nightingale is common in this country, it never visits the northern parts of our island, and is but seldom seen in the western counties of Devonshire and Cornwall. It leaves us sometime in the month of August, and makes its regular return in the beginning of April. The nightingale is supposed, during that interval, to visit the distant regions of Asia; this is probable, as these birds do not winter in any part of France, Germany, Italy, Greece, &c. neither does it appear that they stay in Africa, but are seen at all times in India, Persia, China, and Japan. This delightful songster is a solitary bird, and never unites in flocks, like many of the smaller birds, but hides itself in the thickest part of the bushes, and sings, generally, in the night: Far and near, In wood and thicket over the wide grove, That, should you close your eyes, you might almost The manner in which young birds practise their songs as learners, is a circumstance not at all mentioned by any of our poets. This recording, which lasts for ten or twelve months, is well known to bird-catchers, and is accurately described by the Hon. Mr. Daines Barrington. This first essay does not seem to have the least rudiments of the future song; but, as the bird grows older and stronger, one may begin to perceive what the nestling is aiming at, Whilst the scholar is thus endeavouring to form his song, when he is once sure of a passage, he commonly raises his tone, which he drops again when he is not equal to what he is attempting; just as a singer raises his voice, when he not only recollects certain parts of the tune with precision, but knows that he can execute them. What the nestling is not thus thoroughly master of, he hurries over, lowering his tone, as if he did not wish to be heard, and could not yet satisfy himself,'-(Phil. Tr. vol. lxiii, part 1, pp. 250, 1.) Pliny, in his account of the nightingale, minutely describes the state of a learner of that species. The younger sort meditate and receive lessons for their imitation. The scholar listens with great attention, and repeats; and each is silent by turns. An attempt to mend in a corrected passage may be perceived, and a kind of reprehension in the teacher1,' 1 Meditantur aliæ juniores, versusque, quos imitentur, accipiunt. Audit discipula intentione magna, et reddit: vicibusque reticent. Intelligitur emendatæ correptio, et in docente quædam reprehensio. The tone of the nightingale (continues Mr. Barrington) is infinitely more mellow than that of any other bird, though at the same time, by a proper exertion of its musical powers, it can be excessively brilliant. When this bird' sang its song round, in its whole compass, I have observed sixteen different beginnings and closes, at the same time that the intermediate notes were commonly varied in their succession, with such judgment as to produce a most pleasing variety. The next point of superiority in a nightingale, is its continuance of song, without a pause, which I have observed sometimes not to be less than twenty seconds. Whenever respiration, however, became necessary, it was taken with as much judgment as by an opera singer. But it is not only in tone and variety that the nightingale excels: the bird also sings (if I may so express myself) with superior judgment and taste. I have therefore commonly observed that my nightingale began softly, like the antient orators; reserving its breath to swell certain notes, which by this means had a most astonishing effect, and which eludes all verbal description.'(Phil. Tr. vol. Ixiii, pp. 285, 6.) Thomas Warton, in his delightful Ode, entitled • The First of April,' thus depicts some of the appearances of nature at the beginning of the month: Scarce a sickly straggling flower ว Decks the rough castle's rifted tower; Slowly shoots the golden bloom: And, but by fits, the furze-clad dale Of Flora's brightest 'broidery shone, A nightingale caged by Mr. Barrington. Save that the lilac hangs to view Scant along the ridgy land The beans their new-born ranks expand: Weakly green its budding sprays. 1 That beautiful little bird, the wryneck (jynx torquilla), makes its appearance about the middle of the month, preceding the cuckoo by a few days. Its food consists of ants and other insects, of which it finds great abundance lodged in the bark and crevices of trees. The cuckoo now on every tree The well known cry of the cuculus canorus is heard soon after the wryneck, and ceases the latter end of June; its stay is short, the old cuckoos being said to quit this country early in July. Cuckoos build no nest, and what is more extraordinary, the female de posits her solitary egg in the nest of another bird, by whom it is hatched. The nest she chooses for this purpose is generally the hedge-sparrow's, though she occasionally resorts to that of the water-wagtail, titlark, &c. This bird flies from hedge to hedge, and sings her idle song Monotonous, yet sweet, now here, now there; Herself but rarely seen. 'The cuckoo begins early in the season, with the interval of a minor third; the bird then proceeds to a major third, next to a fourth; then a fifth; after which his voice breaks out without attaining a minor The structure of this bird's tongue is very remarkable; it is of considerable length, of a cylindrical form, and capable of being pushed forwards, and drawn into its bill again; it is furnished with a horny substance at the end, with which it secures its prey, and brings it to its mouth. sixth.'-(For many curious particulars relative to this bird, see Phil. Tr. vol. lxxviii, pp. 219-237.) Heywood, in his Epigram Of Use,' 1587, alludes to this remarkable circumstance: An Aprill, the koocoo can sing her song by rote, Starts thy curious voice to hear, LUGAN. The other summer-birds of passage which arrive this month, make their appearance in the following order: the ring-ousel (turdus torquatus), the red-start (motacilla phoenicurus), frequenting old walls and ruinous edifices; the yellow wren (motacilla trochilus); the swift, already noticed; the whitethroat (motacilla sylva); the grass-hopper lark (alauda trivialis), the smallest of the lark kind'; and, lastly, the willowwren, which frequents hedges and shrubberies, and feeds on insects, in search of which it is continually running up and down small branches of trees. The tenants of the air, are, in this month, busily employed in forming their temporary habitations, and in rearing and maintaining their offspring. Their mode of building, the materials they use, as well as the situations they select, are as various as the different kinds of birds, and are all admirably adapted to their several wants and necessities. 1 Found chiefly in the wild and mountainous districts of Eng land. Its habits are similar to those of the blackbird. 2 This bird is often heard in the midst of a thick covert to utter a pretty constant grating call of cha, cha, cha, which it leaves off as soon as it is disturbed, flitting before the passenger from bush to bush, singing as it flies along 3 It skulks in hedges and thick bushes, and runs like a mouse through the bottom of the thorns, evading the sight. The tones of the cock-bird in the spring are soft, clear, and melodious. |