50 OUR RARER BIRDS 



recesses of a hedge-bottom near the copse. Sometimes it is 

 built amongst the masses of fallen leaves which the winds of 

 March have drifted against the tree trunks, and matted in 

 the briars ; and perhaps least frequently of all amongst the 

 dark and glossy foliage of the ivy growing over a rough wall. 

 When built on the ground, a little hole is scraped out first, 

 and then the bulky nest is commenced. Externally it is 

 made of dry grass, bits of dry rush, moss, and dead leaves, 

 generally of the oak. This is lined with finer grass, roots, 

 and a little horsehair. The Nightingale's eggs possess certain 

 well-marked characteristics which prevent them being con- 

 fused with those of any other native species. They vary from 

 four to six in number, and range from dark olive-brown to 

 bluish-green. The ground colour of the dark olive-brown 

 variety is bluish-green where it can be seen through the rich 

 surface markings of brown ; whilst the bluish-green variety 

 is only very faintly mottled with reddish-brown. The two 

 types are produced by the greater or less abundance of the 

 surface colour ; and on some eggs this is confined to a circular 

 confluent mass on the large end, whilst occasionally it is to 

 be seen on the small end. The Nightingale is a close sitter, 

 often allowing herself to be caught on the nest. Her sober 

 brown colours are in strict harmony with surrounding tints, 

 and she sits quietly on her charge as if conscious of her safety. 

 The eggs themselves are eminently protective in colour, re- 

 sembling very closely the browns and greens of the objects 

 round the nest. Only one brood is reared in the season, and 

 so far as my observations extend, the young birds are deserted 

 by their parents as soon as they are able to shift for them- 

 selves. 



The Nightingale is silent for weeks before it takes its 

 departure, and it skulks close during the moult. It leaves us 

 somewhat early in autumn, and I rarely see it in its usual 

 haunts after the beginning of September. 



