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Society for the Protection of Birds. 
EDUCATIONAL SERIES. Edited by H. E. DRESSER, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 
No. 18.—NIGHTINGALE. 
By J. H. ALLCHIN, 
Bentlif Curator, The Museum, Maidstone. 
THE NIGHTINGALE. 
I. Name—NIGHTINGALE. 
Family—Turdidzx. 
Genus—Daulias. D. luscinia. Nightingale. 
II. General Description. 
In the adult birds 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; the cheeks, 
throat, and under surface of the body are a greyish white, the flanks and breast being 
tinged with buff ; bill, legs, and feet, brown; iris hazel. Total length, 6} inches. The female 
is similar to the male in colour, but slightly smaller in size. The young in their first 
plumage are a duller and more sober brown than the adults, and are speckled over with 
ochreous brown markings, which may easily cause them to be mistaken for the young of the 
Robin, to which bird the Nightingale is a close ally. 
III. Where, when, and in what numbers found. 
The English Nightingale is the only representative in this country of a genus which 
includes three species. The distribution of the bird is confined entirely to England, and 
even here its range is limited, for it does not appear to go farther north than Yorkshire, 
