BEAUTY OF THE NIGHTINGALE 107 



prefers to make his nest in the trees and shrubs, 

 to which he immediately betakes himself when 

 alarmed. 



There is, perhaps, no bird more graceful or 

 beautiful in the quiet colour of its plumage than 

 the nightingale. The Rev. Warde-Fowler gives 

 so delightful a description of this bird, that 

 I cannot refrain from quoting his words : 'It is 

 of the ideal size for a bird ... all its parts are 

 in exquisite proportion. . . . Its plumage ... is 

 of three hues, all sober, but all possessing that 

 reality of colour which is so satisfying to the eye 

 on a sunny day. The uniform brown of the head, 

 the wings, and the upper part of the back, is 

 much like the brown of the robin . . . but either 

 it is a little brighter or the larger surface gives 

 it a richer tone. In both birds the brown is set 

 off against a beautiful red ; but this in the 

 nightingale is only distinct when it flies or jerks 

 the tail, the upper feathers of which, as well as 

 the longer quills, and especially the innermost 

 ones, are of that deep but bright russet that one 

 associates with an autumn morning. And throat 

 and breast are white, not pure white, but of the 

 gentle tone of a cloud where the gray begins to 

 meet the sunshine. 7 The above description is, to 

 my mind, one of the most beautiful I have ever 

 read. This author notices the similarity which 

 exists, otherwise than in colouring, between the 

 nightingale and the robin. There is also a certain 

 similarity in form between the two birds ; their 



