THRUSHES AND THRUSHLIKE BIRDS 



375 



the \vings being sliglilly brighter, exce])t Ihe 

 primary quills, which are dusky-brown ; the 

 tail-coYcrts chestnut, the tail feathers brown, 

 tinted with chestnut, rather long and rounded ; 

 the cheeks ashy shading into tlie sides of the 

 neck ; the breast is a dull wliitish-grey, slightly 

 tinged with brown, the throat and abdomen 

 pale whitish-grey, the under tail-coverts pale 

 tawny-yellow ; the legs (which are rather long) 

 and claws a greyish-brown. The female is 

 somewhat smaller than the male, but the 

 difference between the sexes is very difTicult 

 to distinguish, and we would recommend any 

 purchaser to clioose a large bird witli a bold 

 eye. It has also been held by some autliorities 

 that the tliroat of tlie male is ligliter tlian tliat 

 of the female ; it may therefore be advisable 

 to keep that point in view. 



The slay of the Nightingale in this country 

 is but short. In the early part of April tlie 

 birds begin to arrive, the males 

 preceding the females sometimes by 

 as many as ten days or even a 

 fortnight, leaving us again towards 

 the end of July and during 

 August for North-eastern Africa. 

 A feature in these birds, wortliy 

 of particular notice, is that they 

 invariably, by some inscrutaljle 

 instinct, fly direct to their last 

 year's nesting-place ; only the 

 young of the preceding year stray- 

 ing from the old familiar spot, 

 since they necessarily must choose 

 a fresh situation wherein to build 

 their nest. 



The Southern and Eastern districts 

 are most favoured ))y tliis welcome 

 visitor, and they are quite plentiful 

 in Surrey, ^liddlesex, and Essex. 

 The Nightingale's chief charm is its wonderful 

 power of song, almost as loud as that of the 

 Song Thrush in some of its parts, though pro- 

 ceeding from a mucli smaller bird. Tlie Tlirush's 

 song has frequently been mistaken for it, 

 though the notes of the Nightingale are quite 

 distinct from those of the Thrush to any 

 ornithologist. The Nightingale sings not only 

 during the day, but long after darkness has set 

 in. and we have listened to his deep flute-like 

 notes at midnight in a small village in Surrey. 

 His melofhous deep " jug, tiuu, tzu, zqua," 

 notes uttered one after the other, are indescrib- 

 alsle, though much has been written round 

 them by poets, and to hear the Nightingale at 

 his best is to hear him (for the cocks alone sing) 

 in the stillness of a summer's night, or on a 

 dull warm day, when, answering the song of a 

 rival in a neighbouring coppice, each reply 

 seems to swell in volume, and be given with 



greater vigour. London is favoured by tlic 

 Nightingale's presence in some of its well- 

 wooded parks. Epping Forest, in particular, 

 lieing well patronised, but it must bo remem- 

 bered that the bird sings ])ut little on cold 

 blustery days. 



The nest is built principally of dead leaves, 

 usually those of the oak, and grass, the outside 

 being rough, but the inside nicely shaped and 

 rather deep and generally lined with fine grasses 

 and horsehair. It is sometimes built in a 

 hollow in the ground, in the roots or stumps 

 of trees, with a clump of nettles growing round, 

 the nest generally being well down amongst 

 these. It is also found towards the bottom of 

 a hedgerow. The eggs are generally five in 

 numlier, and of an olive-bro^\Tl colour, some 

 slightly tinted with green. As soon as the 

 young are hatched, generally in June, the song 

 of the male bird ])ractically ceases, unless the 



STOCK CAGE FOR INSECTIVOROUS BIRDS. 



first nest has been taken or destroyed, in which 

 case they immediately commence another, and 

 the singing is continued until the eggs are 

 hatched. The whole time of the parents is 

 then employed in providing their young with 

 food, which is principally composed of small 

 green caterpillars. The food of the adult bird 

 consists of insects, such as caterpillars, small 

 worms, beetles, moths, and flies, and it is 

 particularly fond of fresh or live ants' cocoons. 

 Young Nightingales can be successfully hand- 

 reared from the age of ten days on a mixture 

 of equal parts hard-boiled egg, minced fine by 

 passing it through a fine sieve, and powdered 

 plain sweet biscuit, and good ants' cocoons, 

 steamed until they have filled out to the size 

 of live cocoons. These three ingredients should 

 be mixed together, moistening only sufficient 

 to a pulp with fresh new m Ik to last several 

 feeds so that a fresh supply is made up about 



