THE HEART OF THE COPSE I2 i 



young nightingales leave the nest they are spotted with 

 dull yellow, like young robins ; and the close relationship of 

 the nightingale and robin is shown in the figure and the large 

 intelligent eye of the adult bird, and also in the nest and 

 eggs. The outside of the robin's nest is packed together out 

 of dry leaves in much the same way as the nightingale's, and 

 it is also lined with hair ; it is a nightingale's nest cut down 



'YOUNG NIGHTINGALES . . . ARE SPOTTED WITH DULL YELLOW' 



on three sides to fit a hole. Most nightingales' eggs are 

 uniform olive-green or olive-brown, and vary little in shade; 

 but some show traces of a buff ground under dense and 

 almost confluent markings of yellowish brown. These re- 

 semble the darkest type of the robin's egg. Occasionally 

 nightingales' eggs occur of a pale sea-green ; but this colour 

 is merely an indication of weakness or disease in the bird 

 which laid them, like the pale green or blue eggs sometimes 

 laid by blackbirds, chaffinches, linnets, and several other 



11.0281 1 6 



