Page:Natural History of the Nightingale, John Legg, 1779.djvu/1

 of the NIGHTINGALE.

nightingale," ays Pliny, "that for fifteen days and nights, hid in the thicket hades, continues her note without intermiion, deerves our attention and wonder.—How urpriing that o great a voice can reide in o mall a body!—Such pereverance in o minute an animal! With what a muical propriety are the ounds it produces modulated!—The note at one time drawn out into a long breath; now tealing off into a different cadence, now interrupted by a break, then changing into a new note by an unexpected tranition; now eeming to renew the ame train, then deceiving expectation! She ometimes eems to murmur within herelf; full deep, harp, wift, drawling, trembling; now at the top, the middle, and the bottom of the cale! In hort, in that little bill eems to reide all the melody which man has vainly endeavoured to bring from a variety of muical intruments. Some even eem to be poeed of a different ong from the ret, and contend with each other with great ardor. The bird overcome is then een only to dicontinue its ong with its life ."

This bird is omewhat larger than a redtart: in its plumage it reembles the female of that pecies, but it is of a longer body, and more elegantly formed. The bill is harp-pointed, like that of the throtle, about half an inch in length, and of a duky colour; the inide of the mouth is yellow, and the corners of the bill are alo yellow,