NIGHTINGALE, 41 
Dod.! He informs us (in lit.) that a bird frequented the 
same neighbourhood in 1891. Mr. W. E. Sharp, who 
was familiar with the notes of the bird in Worcestershire, 
informed Dr. Dobie that he heard a Nightingale through 
May and part of June 1893, at Ledsham, in Wirral.” 
At the end of April 1896, a Nightingale made its 
appearance in a hanging wood in the grounds of Oak- 
wood Hall, on the bank of the Mersey at Romiley. It 
was at once recognised by the gardener, an observant 
man, who subsequently showed in conversation with us 
that during a prolonged residence in Worcestershire he 
had made himself acquainted with the song, appear- 
ance, and nesting-habits of the species. We heard the 
bird on several evenings in May. Towards the end of 
that month its presence had attracted large crowds, 
and the late Ephraim Hallam, then residing at Oak- 
wood, apprehensive of damage to his property, gave 
instructions that the Nightingale should be scared 
away. The firing of blank cartridges in the wood 
proved ineffectual, until, on the evening of the 21st, 
one was discharged beneath the tree in which the bird 
was singing. The male was neither seen nor heard 
again, but it is not certain that the firing was respon- 
sible for its silence, as two days later the gardener saw 
the hen with food in her beak, and it appears probable 
that the eggs were then hatched. 
In May 1897, a Nightingale was reported as having 
been heard near Eaton Hall? 
Although neither eggs nor nestlings have been 
actually found in the county, there is, of course, pre- 
sumptive evidence that the birds have nested in each 
case where their occurrence is beyond doubt. 
1 Field, vol. lxxiii. p. 754. 1889. Cf. Dobie, op. cit. p. 288. 
2 Dobie, op. cit. p. 288. 3 Field, vol. lxxxix. p. 800. 1897. 
