The nightingale may be domesticated, though not with ')ut considerable pains and difficulty. For this purpose it must be treated with tenderness, and with favourite food, as the nymphs: of ants, meal-worms, and certain pastes, prepared by the dealers. In consequence of care ful management, its warble is rendered much superior to that of the wild nightingale, and will be uttered all the year round, except during moulting. In many parts of Russia, and particularly at Moscow, the art of taming and rearing nightingales is practised on an extensive scale ; and, according to the observation of that intelligent and entertaining traveller, Dr. Clarke, these birds are heard throughout the night, " making the streets of the city re sound the melodies of the forest." When once reconcil ed to captivity, these little songsters will appropriate the notes of other birds, from imitation, or rivalship, and will even chant the stiff airs of a nightin,sale-pipe. Nay, they may be instructed to sing, in alternation, with a chorus, and to repeat their couplet at the proper time. They may also be taught to enunciate words, though not, we may presume, to conduct trains of discourse in the mar vellous manner recorded by Pliny and Gesner. Their at tachments, though slowly acquired, are strong and perma nent; they distinguish the step of their master, and wel come his approach with the music of joy ; and some of them have pined to death on the loss of their benefactors. One that was presented to a gentleman, no longer seeing the lady who used to feed him, became sullen, refused to eat, and was soon reduced to that state of weakness, that he could no longer support himself on his perch ; but, on being restored to his former mistress, he quickly revived, ate, drank, returned to his perch, and was well in twenty four hours. Buffon makes particular mention of a night ingale, which, by feeding on a prepared paste, lived to the age of seventeen years, and, though hoary, yet happy and gay, warbling as in early youth, and caressing to the last the hand which fed it.
S. arundinacea, Lath. Tem. Illotacilla arundinacea, Gmel. Reed Warbler, Reed Wren, or Lesser Fauvette. Olive-brown above, whitish beneath ; lora and orbits brownish-white ; angle of the wings brownish-yellow beneath ; tail slightly wedged and brown. At the corner of the mouth, there are three strong bristles; and the irides are hazel. Length scarcely five inches and a half, extent of wing eight inches eight lines, and weight nearly three drachms. This bird may be at once distinguished from the Salicaria, with which it has been so often confounded, by the base of the bill being broader, by the want of the light stroke over the eye, and by having all the upper parts of one plain colour. The nest and eggs are also different. The former is curiously suspended between three or four reeds, or on some plant overhanging the water, being fastened by means of dead grass, of which and reeds it is principally composed on the outside; and the lining consists of the flowery tufts of reeds, dead grass, and a few horse hairs. Its great proportionate depth affords security to the contents; for, as it is perpetually swinging about with the wind, every gust forces it near the water, and might otherwise throw out the eggs or the young. The eggs, which are usually four or five, are larger than those of the sedge warbler, of a greenish white, blotched with green and brown spots, which are most numerous at the larger end. The young ones,
though tender and unfledged, are apt to desert the nest if it be touched, or too nearly inspected. But, when taken young, they are easily reared, and their song and sprightly manners are very engaging. Bewick erroneously makes this species synonymous with the Passerina. It is a na tive of Europe. In this country it is a much more local bird than the sedge warbler, though sometimes they are found together. In England it occurs along the coasts of Kent and Sussex, from Sandwich to Arundel, among the reedy pools and ditches, especially on Romney Marsh, also near Uxbridge, in the fens of Lincoln, and in great abundance near the river Coln, in Buckinghamshire. It arrives about the end of April, or the beginning of May, and departs in September.
S. turdoides, Mey. r and Tern. Turd us Jrundinaceus, Lin. &c. River Warbler, or Red Thrush. Ferruginous brown above, whitish testaceous beneath ; quill-feathers fuscous, tipped with whitish. Length seven inches, alar extent upwards of ten inches. Native of the greater part of Europe, from Gibraltar to Russia and Poland, but not indigenous to Britain. It haunts the reedy and rushy margins of lakes, rivers, and pools, flies heavily, and has a loud and powerful, but rather shrill and disagreeable note. The nest is very ingeniously constructed of the dried leaves of reeds, interwoven with pliant fibrous roots, lined with soft materials, and so loosely suspended by a sort of rude rings to the stems of reeds or rushes, that it is supposed to rise or fall with the level of the water. It is about six inches deep, and very thick at the bottom. In this receptacle the female deposits four or five eggs, of a yellowish-white, spotted with brown. During incuba tion, she is serenaded day and night by the male, who pours forth his clamorous music at a little distance from the nest, accompanied with a very brisk tremulous motion of the whole body. It has been sometimes confounded with the preceding.
S. salicaria, Lath. Motacilla Salicaria, Lin. &c. Sedge Bird, or Sedge Warbler, Reed Fauvette, or Willow Wren, Prov. Sedge Wren, or Lesser Reed Sparrow. Cinere ous above, white beneath, with white eye-brows. This is an elegant species, weighing about three drachms, and measuring from five and a half to six and a half inches. The nest, which is composed of moss and dried stalks, lined with dried grass and a few hairs, is sometimes fastened to two or three reeds or sedges, or on a low bush, or willow stump, and it contains five or six light-brown eggs, varied with darker shades. During the whole of summer this bird may be seen darting from among the reeds, to catch the dragon-flies, and other insects which buzz on the surface of the water. It often warbles and sings in the warm nights of spring. From the variety of its notes it has obtained the appellation or the English mock-bird ; for it counterfeits the song of the sky-lark and swallow, and even the chatter of the domestic finch. Its warble has been often attributed to the Reed Bunting, which appears conspicuous on the upper branches, while the real songster, concealed in the thickest branches, is heard aloud.