BIRDS IN THE CALENDAR 



finds more music in the thunderous note of 

 her lord than in the faint melody of such song- 

 birds as her native Africa provides. The 

 nightingale sings to his mate while she is 

 sitting on her olive-green eggs perching on a 

 low branch of the tree, at foot of which the 

 slender nest is hidden in the undergrowth. 

 So much is known to every schoolboy who 

 is too often guided by the sound on his errand 

 of plunder ; and why the song of this par- 

 ticular warbler should have been described 

 by so many writers as one of sadness, seeing 

 that it is associated with the most joyous 

 days in the bird's year, passes comprehension. 

 So obviously is its object to hearten the 

 female in her long and patient vigil that as 

 soon as the young are hatched the male's 

 voice breaks like that of other choristers to 

 a guttural croak. It is said, indeed though 

 so cruel an experiment would not appeal to 

 many that if the nest be destroyed just as 

 the young are hatched the bird recovers all 

 his sweetness of voice and sings anew while 

 another home is built. 



Although poetic licence has ascribed the 

 song to the female, it is the male nightingale 

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