78 British Birds, 



seven ; and the shell is white, more or less freckled 

 with light red. — Fig. 1^, plate 11. 



NIGHTINGALE— (Z>^?///^j hiscinia ; formerly, 

 Philomela luscinia). 



This sweetest of the English warblers has but a 

 limited range. In Essex, Suffolk, and Cambridge- 

 shire, I used to hear it abundantly ; but of late years, 

 as a resident in Yorkshire, its note has become strange 

 in my ears. Shy and vigilant in its habits, it does 

 not willingly expose itself to observation, and its 

 haunts are so thick that discovery of its nest is not 

 always easy. It seems often an untidy structure, but 

 according to my observation not usually built on the 

 ground, as Mr. Yarrell states. I have found it in a 

 thick thorn hedge or bush, and in shrubs in the 

 garden, made of twigs, straw, grass, and especially old 

 oak leaves, and with only a jagged margin. The eggs, 

 four and sometimes five of them, are of " an uniform 

 olive-brown colour," and from the time they are laid, 

 the bird only sings occasionall}^ After they are 

 hatched, never. — Fig. b, plate III. 



BLUE-TFROAT— (7?////a7/^ Stiecica ; formerly, 

 Phcenicura Suecicd). 



Blue-throated Robin, Blue-throated Redstart, Blue- 

 breast. — Only of very rare occurrence. 



REDSTART— (i?«//V///^ phcenicurus ; formerly, 

 Phcen icu ra ru ticilla ). 



Firetail, Fireflirt, Brantail, Redtail. — The male is 

 one of the most beautiful of our small birds, and I 



