Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/98

Rh simple song to a warble the most varied, and from the softest trillings and swells to languishing and lamentable sighs, which he as quickly abandons, to return to his natural sprightliness."

A notion has long prevailed that the song of the Nightingale is heard to most advantage in the east, and that it declines in sweetness and richness in proportion as it is found farther to the north and west. Thus the Nightingales of Persia, Turkey, and Greece are said to be more melodious than those of Italy, while the Italian birds are esteemed by amateurs superior to those of France; and these last to those of England. The London fanciers prefer those of Surrey to those taken north of London. Yet, perhaps, this superiority is more fancied than real; and certainly not constant, if we receive the testimony of one familiar with the melody of birds. "In 1802," observes Mr. Syme, "being at Geneva, at the residence of a friend, about three miles from the town, in a quiet, sequestered spot, surrounded by gardens and forests, and within hearing of the murmur of the Rhone,—there, in a beautiful still evening, the air soft and balmy, the windows of the house open, and the twilight chequered by trees, there we heard two Nightingales sing, indeed, most delightfully,—but not more so than one we heard down a stair, in a dark cellar, in the High Street in Edinburgh! such a place as that described in 'The Antiquary;' no window, and no light admitted, but what came from the open door, and the atmosphere charged with the fumes of tobacco and spirits; (it was a place where carriers lodged, or put up,) and the heads of the