THE NIGHTINGALE. tg 



on the subject of caging the Wagtail, and with equal 

 justice could bring the same accusation against me 

 with regard to the Nightingale, for until I had Joey I 

 was decidedly of opinion that it was little short of a 

 crime to confine one of these incomparable songsters. 

 But since I have seen how happy and comfortable it 

 is possible to make their lives in captivity, and how 

 thoroughly they enjoy and appreciate kindly human 

 attention to their little wants, I have renounced my 

 former theory; nor am I in the least ashamed of having 

 done so : on the contrary, a healthy change of sentiment 

 is entirely laudable, and it is only obstinate persistence 

 in a given course, simply because it is an accustomed 

 one, that is to be reprobated. 



The nest of the Nightingale is not a very pretentious 

 affair; it is made of grass stems and leaves, and is 

 lined with finer portions of the former, and a few hairs. 

 It is usually placed on or near the ground among 

 brambles or nettles, and close to the trunk of a tree, 

 or a wall, or large stone, and is not at all difficult to 

 find. The eggs are four or five in number, usually 

 five, they are self-coloured of a dull olive- green, and 

 are hatched in thirteen or fourteen days. 



If it is desired to bring up the young by hand and 

 that is by far the better plan- -they should be taken 

 when the quills of the tail and wings are beginning 

 to burst their sheath, and may then be very readily 

 reared on ants' eggs alone, but if small caterpillars of 



