4° 



NIGHTINGALE. 



with longer bill and tail ; while in Scandinavia, Denmark and 

 Eastern Europe, our bird is replaced— and from Asia Minor to the 

 Rhine over-lapped — by the rather larger " Sprosser " or Northern 

 Nightingale, D. philoinela : a perfectly distinct species, less russet in 

 hue, slightly spotted on the breast, and with a minute bastard 

 primary. In autumn our Nightingale leaves Europe and Asia 

 Minor ; wintering at least as far south as Abyssinia. 



The nest, commenced early in May, is composed of dead leaves 

 of the oak and other trees, with a scanty lining of roots and bents ; 

 and is usually placed on or near the ground in low underwood and 

 close hedge-row bottoms — always on the warmer side — or in the 

 banks of coppices. In Spain I have found it fully five feet from the 

 ground, in the tops of broad hedges and the sides of clipped cypress 

 and myrtle trees. The eggs, 4-6, are mostly of an olive-brown, 

 but some birds, which annually return to the same place, lay eggs of 

 a bluish-green mottled with reddish-brown, somewhat resembling 

 those of the Bluethroat : average measurements '8 by "6 in. The 

 young are hatched in June ; after which the male discontinues his 

 melodious song, uttered hitherto by day as well as by night in genial 

 weather, and merely retains a harsh croak. Spiders, ants, and small 

 green caterpillars are the food of the nestlings, and in July and 

 August the young frequent fields planted with peas and beans ; the 

 adults live on worms, insects^ ants'-eggs,' fruit and berries, especially 

 those of the elder. Favourite resorts are small woods at no great 

 distance from water and the coppices bordering damp meadows. 

 Although the Nightingale does not bear captivity well, yet birds 

 have been kept through the winter, and a pair has even bred and 

 reared three young in confinement. Its well-known song needs no 

 description; the call- note being a waic, mate., cur-cur. In August the 

 young take their departure, the old birds remaining till September, 

 completing their moult. Migration is supposed to be performed 

 singly and not in flocks ; but Mr. Monk states that on April 13th 

 1872, there were Nightingales under the bathing-machines along the 

 whole length of the shore at Brighton. 



In the adult the upper parts are russet-brown shading into reddish- 

 chestnut on the tail-coverts and tail, the colour of the latter being 

 very noticeable on flight ; under parts greyish-white, turning to 

 buff on the flanks and breast ; bill, legs and feet brown. The 

 sexes are alike in plumage. Length 6"5 in. ; wing to tip of the 

 3rd and longest primary 3-35 in. The young in first plumage are 

 darker, with yellowish-brown shaft-streaks to the upper feathers and 

 greyish-brown bars on the under parts. 



