I accidently met with a scrap of evidence on this point lately, as I was
driving at midnight on a sudden call to visit a dying man. The nightingales
were singing in full choir, when my servant, an intelligent young man from
the country, remarked, "A cheerful little bird the nightingale, Sir. It is
beautiful to hear them singing when one is walking alone on a dark night."
Unsophisticated judgment of this sort, when met with unsought, seems to be
of real value in a question depending for its decision so much upon the
faithful record of impressions.