90 OUR FAVOURITE SONG BIRDS 



birds which may remain for days before they 

 scatter over the surrounding district to their 

 particular nesting-places. We have repeatedly re- 

 marked this in the Kentish coppices, and as the 

 males are at this time very musical, the least 

 pretext starting rival birds into song, the effect is 

 very charming. The Nightingale has the same 

 abrupt way as the Robin of hopping out from the 

 cover on to a bare spot with a flick of his wings 

 and tail, and pausing for a moment before seeking 

 amongst the fallen leaves or the short grass for 

 food. Although fond of concealing itself in the 

 dense vegetation of its haunts, the Nightingale 

 is not a tree-haunting species, and it also spends 

 a good deal of time upon the ground. It is shy 

 and wary, and has a habit of slipping very quietly 

 off into the cover when alarmed, its chestnut tail 

 outspread during flight and looking very con- 

 spicuous as the bird flits before us. Its alarm-note 

 is a decidedly harsh and unmusical croak, but the 

 call-note is a very plaintive weet, and it also has a 

 peculiar habit of snapping the mandibles together 

 if much disturbed. 



To most people the chief point of interest con- 

 nected with the Nightingale is its song. The music 

 of no other bird is surrounded with such romantic 

 glamour, its voice has become inseparably associated 

 with our literature, and has been a poet's theme for 

 ages uncounted. Possibly it does not merit the wild 



