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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