NIGHTINGALE 



PLATE CXVIII. 



Daulias luscinia, . . . LINNAEUS. 



Sylvia luscinia, ... . NAUMANN. 



Philomela luscinia, . . . YARRELL. MACGILLIVRAY. 



THE nest of the Nightingale, which is almost always 

 placed on the ground, in some natural hollow, amongst 

 the roots of a tree, on a bank, or at the foot of a 

 hedgerow, though sometimes two or three feet from the 

 surface, is very loosely put together, and is formed of 

 various materials, such as dried stalks of grasses, and leaves, 

 small fibrous roots, and bits of bark, lined with a few hairs 

 and the finer portions of the grass. It is about five inches 

 and a half in external diameter, by about three internally, 

 and about three and a half deep. 



The eggs, of a regular oval form, are of a uniform 

 glossy dull olive-brown colour. They are sometimes tinged 

 with greyish blue, especially at the smaller end ; some are 

 greenish, others brownish green ; some are paler, mottled 

 with olive or reddish brown. They are four or five to six 

 in number. They are laid in May, one brood only being 

 reared in the year. The young, which are hatched in June, 

 often leave the nest before they are able to fly. 



Mr. Meyer observes: "The attachment of this species 



VOL. II. 8l 



