Family TURDIDAE. 



Aedon luscinia (L.) — Nightingale. 



(Plate 71-72 fig. a-h). 

 (Snouckaert: Avifauna Neerlandica, p. 46. No. 112). 



Colour of surface of shell: 

 Colour of spots: 



Average dimensions: 

 Average weight of shell 

 Texture of shell: 

 Shape : 



Nest: 



Site of nest: 



Number of eggs : 

 Breeding season: 

 Duration of incubation : 



olive brown; yellowish brown; olive green; 

 greyish green in various shades. 



of most eggs the whole surface is faintly 

 clouded in a rusty red tint (such as, e.g., 

 that of the merula-spots). This is most 

 clearly noticeable in the eggs in shades 

 of green. At the thicker end this cloudy 

 marking is sometimes so close as to form 

 a cap or ring. 



21 X 15.6 millimetres. 



0.165 gram. 



not specially characterized. 



short or oblong ovoidal; often rotund. 



consists of vegetable material; the funda- 

 mental part more especially of dry leaves; 

 the lining sometimes contains horsehair 

 also. 



usually a short distance from, often imme- 

 diately on the ground; also up to a height 

 of about 1 I<2 Metre 1 ); by preference in 

 the midst of dense vegetation 2 ) with shrubs 

 of a middling height — especially in oak 

 brushwood — where there are many dry 

 leaves. 



4—6, usually 5. 



May— June. 



about 14 days. 



') Mr. P. TESCH states in „De Levende Natuur" (XI, p. 214) that on a few occasions he 



found a luscinia-nest a metre from the ground in a wood stack. 

 Mr. J. L. F. DE MEYERE found one at about 2'/ 2 Metres height in a coniferous tree- 

 2 ) Mr. WOLDA of Wageningen noted that almost without an exception stinging nettles grow 



in the immediate surrounding of the nest. 



