79 



NIGHTINGALE. 



PLATE CJLV1I1. 



Sylvia luscinia, PENifAifT. TEJOONCK. 



Motacilla luscinia, MONTAGU. BEWICK. 



Curruca luscinia, FLEMIKQ. 



Philomela luscinia, SELBT. GOTJIO). 



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 brown; and some are longer in shape 

 than others. They are four or five to six in number. They are laid 

 in May, and are rather large for the size of the bird. The male and 

 female both sit on them, but the latter the most. The young, which 

 are hatched in June, often leave the nest and hop about on the ground 

 in its neighbourhood before they are able to fly. 



