REDBREAST 465 



in 1882, and a second from Cardiganshire twelve years later; and 

 there is no record of the occurrence of the species in Ireland. North- 

 wards it is very rare in Cheshire and Lancashire (if, indeed, not unknown 

 in the latter county), although far from uncommon in Yorkshire ; but 

 beyond this it is extremely scarce in England, while from Scotland it 

 appears to be absent, at all events as a regular visitor. A noticeable 

 feature in the habits of the species is the fact that in many instances 

 nightingales return year after year to the same localities. 



On their first arrival male nightingales, which are the sole songsters, 

 generally sing to a great extent during the day, but when their partners 

 have appeared, and the business of nest-making demands attention, 

 singing does not usually commence till after sunset, and if the 

 weather is fine and warm is frequently continued throughout the 

 night. The nesting-resorts of the nightingale are either bushy banks, 

 the outskirts of woods, or hedgerows. Here the nest, which is made 

 largely of leaves intermixed with grass, and lined with finer grass, 

 fibres, and sometimes hair, is placed on the ground in a well-sheltered 

 situation. 



The four or five (rarely six) eggs are laid in May, and hatched in 

 June, when the cocks practically discontinue singing. In colour the 

 eggs are specially modified to harmonise with their surroundings, and 

 from the fact that while in some instances the characteristic superficial 

 bronzy-olive tint is uniformly distributed over the whole shell, and in 

 others is restricted to one end, or forms a zone of spots, it would seem 

 that the modification is not yet fully completed. In these partially olive 

 eggs the rest of the colour is greenish, and as bluish-green specimens 

 (with or without spots) are occasionally found, it seems probable that 

 the eggs were originally very similar to those of the redstart. 



Caterpillars form the chief food of the nightingale, but fruits and 

 seeds are eaten in autumn. The song is too well known, and has 

 been too often described to need fuller notice on this occasion. 



Of the above-mentioned eastern nightingale, sometimes called the 

 thrush-nightingale {Daiilias philoinchi), a specimen was taken in Kent 

 in October 1904, this being apparently the first record of the occurrence 

 of the species in Great Britain. 



„ ,, ^ As the wren has received the familiar prefix of 

 Redbreast ^ 



,_ .^, " Jenny," the daw of " Jack," and the pie of " Mag," 

 (Erithaeus , • 1 , 



, , ^ so the present species has been christened " Robin 



redbreast. In this instance, however, robin has 



become one of the recognised titles of the species, although there 



2 H 



