io8 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



habits are much alike, and they choose similar 

 situations for building their nests. Both build 

 on the ground as well as off it. Dixon, in his 

 'Rarer Birds,' states that 'the same anomaly 

 exists between the nightingale and the robin as 

 between the thrush and the redwing, although 

 the robin and the thrush are residents, and the 

 nightingale and redwing are migratory.' The 

 nightingale is remarkable for the beauty of its 

 song, and few of our birds can surpass the robin 

 in that respect. In flight, general bearing, and 

 carriage of their tails there is a strong resemblance 

 between the two birds. 



In the garden of a friend of mine, the vicar of 

 a country parish in one of our Midland counties, 

 and a sincere lover of birds, the nests of nightin- 

 gales have been found on several occasions in the 

 shrubberies, placed on the ground, and constructed 

 of withered oak-leaves, the colour of the nest, 

 eggs, and bird all harmonizing so perfectly with 

 the surroundings as to easily escape observation. 

 I have never as yet succeeded in finding the nest 

 of a nightingale in my own gardens, though these 

 birds pay me an annual visit, and during the 

 earlier summer months sing to me in the wych- 

 elms close to the house. I believe that they make 

 their nests in these ivy -covered trees, where they 

 are secure from the numerous cats which infest 

 our village and scare away or destroy numberless 

 birds. 



I have been often tempted to shoot these 



