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We may now fairly combat the opinion advanced by some naturalists, and sanctioned by the poet', that song-birds are rarely to be found in warm climates. Besides the delightful bird so eloquently described above, we may observe that Bruce heard the song of the sky-lark in Abyssinia; Vaillant was charmed with the music of birds in the wilds of southern Africa; and Adanson tells us, that the swallows which he found in Senegal had not become silent in their passage from Europe. Nay, all the eastern poets introduce the music of the groves as an indispensable accompaniment in their finest descriptions. The pastoral poct of Israel says, The time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.' (Cant. ii, 12.) Hafiz, also, the Persian Moore; the author of the Ramayuna; and the dramatist who wrote Sacontala, are loud in their praises of the music of birds. In the Koran also, and in the Arabian Tales, it is often mentioned. Not to multiply proofs, we shall merely mention two other instances. The summer red-bird, or Tanager, which inhabits the woods on the Mississippi, and is remarkable for laying up a large granary of maize for winter provision, is a delightful song-bird, and makes the forests resound with its summer warblings.

Thevenot, in his Travels, says, the river Jordan is on both sides beset with little, thick, and pleasant woods, among which thousands of nightingales warble all together; and Grosier observes, that among the birds of Tonkin is a species of goldfinch which sings so melodiously, that it is called the Celestial bird. Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beautiful colours, but, when it flies, they lose all their splendour. Mr. Moore, in his Lalla Rookh, thus enumerates some of the oriental songsters :

'But if she bids them shine Arrayed in all the beauteous beams of day, Yet frugal still she humbles them in song.

THOMSON.

Latticed lightly in

With odoriferous woods of Comorin',
Each brilliant bird that wings the air is seen;-
Gay, sparkling leories, such as gleam between
The crimson blossoms of the coral tree *
In the warm isles of India's sunny sea:
Mecea's blue sacred pigeon3, and the thrush^
Of Hindostan, whose holy warblings gush
At evening from the tall pagoda's top ;-
Those golden birds, that, in the spice time, drop
About the gardens, drunk with tirat sweet food
Whose scent hath lured them o'er the summer floods;
And those that under Araby's soft sua

Build their high nests of budding cinnamon.

LALLA ROOKH.

The tenants of the air are, in this month, busily employed in forming their temporary habitations, and in rearing and maintaining their offspring.-See T.T. for 1818, pp. 104-106.

As thus the patient dam assiduous sits,

Not to be tempted from her tender task,
Or by sharp hunger, or by smooth delight,

Though the whole loosened Spring around her blows,

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'Dr. Buchanan writing from Cape Comorin, a lofty mountain, whose rocky-head seems to overhang its base,' says, "The birds (baya or Indian grossbeak) which build the pendulous nests are here numerous. At night each of their little habitations is lighted up, as if to see company. The sagacious little bird fastens a bit of clay to the top of the nest, and then picks up a fire-fly, and sticks it on the clay to illuminate the dwelling, which consists of two rooms. Sometimes there are three or four fire-flies, and their blaze of light in the little cell dazzles the eyes of the bats, which often kill the young of these birds.'-Pearson's Life of Buchanan, vol. ii, p. 55.

Thousands of variegated loories visit the coral trees.—Barrow.

In Mecca, there are quantities of blue pigeons, which none will affright or abuse, much less kill.-Pitts.

The pagoda thrush is esteemed among the first choristers of India. It sits perched on the sacred pagodas, and from thence delivers its melodious song.

5 Birds of paradise, which, at the nutmeg season, come in flights from the southern isles to India; and the strength of the nutmeg, says Tavernier, so affects them, that they fall to the earth intoxicated.

6 The bird which liveth in Arabia, and buildeth its nest with cin

namon.'

Her sympathizing lover takes his stand
High on th' opponent bank, and ceaseless sighs
The tedious time away; or else supplies
Her place a moment, while she sudden flits
To pick the scanty meal. Th' appointed time,
With pious teil fulfilled, the callow young,
Warmed and expanded into perfect life,
Their brittle bondage break, and come to light,
A helpless family, demanding food

With constant clamour. O what passions then,
What melting sentiments of kindly care,
On the new parents seize ! Away they fly
Affectionate, and undesiring bear

The most delicious morsel to their young;
Which equally distributed, again

The search begins. Even so, a gentle pair,

By fortune sunk, but formed of generous mould,
And charmed with cares beyond the vulgar breast,
In some lone cot amid the distant woods,
Sustained alone by providential Heaven,
Oft, as they weeping eye their infant train,
Check their own appetites, and give them all.
Nor toil alone they scorn: exalting love,
By the great FATHER of the SPRING inspired,
Gives instant courage to the fearful race
And to the simple, art. With stealthy wing,
Should some rude foot their woody haunts molest,
Amid a neighbouring bush they silent drop,
And whirring thence, as if alarmed, deceive
Th' unfeeling school-boy. Hence, around the head
Of wandering swain, the white-winged plover wheels
Her sounding flight, and then directly on
In long excursion skims the level lawn,

To tempt him from her nest. The wild-duck hence
O'er the rough moss, and o'er the trackless waste
The heath-hen flutters, pious fraud! to lead
The hot pursuing spaniel far astray.

Be not the Muse ashamed here to bemoan
Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant man
Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage
From liberty confined, and boundless air.
Dull are the pretty slaves, their plumage dull,
Ragged, and all its brighting lustre lost;
Nor is that sprightly wildness in their notes,
Which, clear and vigorous, warbles from the bough.
O then, ye friends of love and love-taught song,
Spare the soft tribes, this barbarous art forbear;
If on your bosom innocence can win,
Music engage, or piety persuade.

About the middle of this month, the bittern (ardea stellaris) makes a hollow booming noise during the night in the breeding season, from its swampy retreats. Towards the end of the month, the blackcap (motacilla atricapilla), called, in Norfolk, the mocknightingale, begins its song.

The progress of vegetation is general and rapid in this month.

Hail, Source of Being! Universal Soul

Of Heaven and Earth! Essential Presence, hail!
TO THEE I bend the knee; to Thee my thoughts,
Continual, climb; who, with a master hand,
Hast the great whole into perfection touched.
By Thee the various vegetative tribes,
Wrapt in a filmy net, and clad with leaves,
Draw the live ether, and imbibe the dew:
By Thee disposed into congenial soils,
Stands each attractive plant, and sucks and swells
The juicy tide; a twining mass of tubes.
At THY Command the vernal sun awakes
The torpid sap, detruded to the root

By wintry winds; that now in fluent dance,
And lively fermentation, mounting, spreads
All this innumerous-coloured scene of things.

The blossoms of trees now present to the eye a most agreeable spectacle, particularly in those counties which abound with orchards. The blackthorn (prunus spinosa) is the first that puts forth its flowers; a host of others follow, among which may be named the ash (fraxinus excelsior), ground-ivy (glecoma hederacea), the box-tree (buxus sempervirens), the peartree (pyrus communis), the apricot, the peach, nectarine, the wild and garden cherry, and the plum; gooseberry and currant trees'; the hawthorn (crategus oxycantha), the apple tree (pyrus malus sativus), and the sycamore (acer pseudo-platanus).

Now from the town

Buried in smoke, and sleep, and noisome damps,

Oft let me wander o'er the dewy fields,

Where freshness breathes, and dash the trembling drops

* See these all described at length in our last volume.

From the bent bush, as thro' the verdant maze
Of sweet-briar hedges I pursue my walk;

Or taste the smell of dairy; or ascend

Some eminence, Augusta, in thy plains,
And see the country, far-diffused around,

One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower
Of mingled blossoms.

The elm (ulmus campestris), the beech (fagus sylvatica), and the larch (pinus-larix rubra), are now in full leaf. That magnificent and beautiful tree, the horse-chesnut (hippocastanum), now displays its honours of fine green leaves and its handsome spikes pyramidal' of white and red flowers. It is quite the glory of forest trees.

Many and lovely are the flowers which are showered, in profusion, from the lap of April: among them may be named the jonquil, anemoné, ranunculus, polyanthus, and the crown-imperial. Other flowers which adorn our fields, at this time, are the checquered daffodil (fritillaria meleagris); the primrose; the cowslip (primula veris); the lady-smock (cardamine pratensis), and the hare-bell (hyacinthus non scriptus). The yellow star of Bethlehem (ornithogalum luteum) in woods; the vernal squill (scilla verna) among maritime rocks; and the wood sorrel (oxalis acetosella), are now in full flower.

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Various kinds of insects are now seen 6 sporting in the sun-beams,' and living their little hour.' The jumping spider (aranea scenica) is seen on garden walls; and the webs of other species of spiders are found on the bushes, palings, and outsides of houses. The iulus terrestris appears, and the deathwatch (termes pulsatorius) beats early in the month. The wood-ant (formica herculanea) now begins to construct its large conical nest. The shell-snail comes out in troops; the stinging-fly (conops calcitrans) and the red-ant (formica rubra) appear.

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