Page:Natural History of the Nightingale, John Legg, 1779.djvu/6

 near the place where the male is tationed. Like the wood lark and mot others of the mall bird tribe, the cock of the pecies is very frequent in his ong during the time of incubation. The reaon of birds being more contant in inging at this period, is to ooth and delight the female whilt itting: it is alo uppoed to be a ignal of afety to inform her that no danger is near.

The nightingale its about fourteen or fifteen days; and uch is her patience and pereverance, that neither the calls of hunger nor the approach of danger can force her from her net. She is often viited by the male, who brings her a upply of food, and ometimes for a little while relieves her in the work of incubation. Agreeable to this are the entiments of my favourite author Thompon, for thus ings that excellent, that much admired poet,

By oberving therefore attentively the place where the nightingale ings, you will probably dicover the net, for the female is uually in the ame hedge, or however not far off: but if after diligent earch you cannot find it, make ue of this expedient. Stick two or three meal worms or caterpillars on the thorns near the place where the old ones frequent, and carefully oberve which way they carry them, and you will hear the cry of the young, the old ones alo will make a great ado, flutter around you with dihevelled wings, and inceantly exert themelves in a kind of mournful note or plaintive train when you approach the net.

When you have found the net, if the young ones are not fledged they mut not be touched, for if they are taken out of the net, they will never continue there afterwards, as they will be anxious to leap out, or the old ones will entice them away. The young hould be twelve or fourteen days old before they are taken, and though at firt they will be apt to refue their meat, yet when they are forcibly fed for a few days, they will oon voluntarily take their food. They hould and is a fine ong bird: the flycatcher, he informs us, builds its net in low buhes, and lays blue eggs, which I uppoe mut be meant of the hedge-parrow: the common wren, he aures us, lays ixteen, and ometimes twenty eggs at a time, and the long-tail titmoue fourteen; and it is his opinion that the titmice tribe emigrate, and that there is a great analogy between the note of the common, and the golden crowned wren. Indeed it would be an endles tak to point out all the mitakes that are to be met with in authors who have wrote on this ubject. It is evident that they could have but an imperfect knowledge of ornithology, and were obliged to copy from others, who probably themelves wrote from peculation, and not from experience. In the work itelf, the reader will find I have been very particular in this point, and have advanced nothing but what is real truth, and will bear the trictet examination. I will not, however, preume to ay that it is abolutely perfect; but I think I may with propriety—with jutice aert, that it will be found more complete and more accurate and than any other hitory of Britih birds that has yet appeared in our language. Tho' I have taken the liberty to point out a few mitakes in the above mentioned writers, far be it from me to deprecate their labours: their works are truly valuable, and of great worth to the public. There are however many errors and many inaccuracies which want rectification in the writings of almot all our natural hitorians. It were therefore incerely to be wihed, that the naturalits would write with more exactnes, more faithfulnes and preciion, as nothing is more rare than to find accuracy in their decriptions, novelty in their account of facts, or delicacy in their obervations. The author of this new performance has taken care not to plit upon this rock, nothing is aerted inconitent with reaon, or incompatible with truth; he has had a trict regard to facts, and endeavoured to be accurate, particular, and copious in all his obervations &c. and at the ame time as entertaining as poible. &there4; This work will be ready for publication in a few months: thoe therefore, who are deirous of being poeed of a complete and entertaining Hitory of Britih Birds, may then purchase it at a very reaonable price, as the bulk of the whole work, according to the bet calculations, will not exceed two volumes in octavo. * Viz, in my Ornithology. be