Note 82 — NATURAL HISTORY OF CAGE BIRDS. (continued 6)

It must, however, be owned, that of twenty young nightingales bred from the nest scarcely one succeeds in all respects. They seldom possess their natural song in its purity; they almost invariably introduce, in spite of all their instruction, foreign and disagreeable tones. The young which are caught in the month of August, before their departure, are the best; they have already learnt their father’s song, and they perfect it the following spring, if they are placed beside a good singer.—Author.