NIGHTINGALE. 57 



2ist April 1883, and for three consecutive years it made 

 its appearance in the same copse in which it first nested. 

 The same pair of birds was believed to come back year after 

 year. The nest, a remarkably flimsy structure, was built in 

 a tuft of nettles, and contained four eggs. The young were 

 fully fledged on the i6th of June, and left the nest the next 

 day, one egg remaining unhatched. Some days before they 

 left the nest, the notes of the male bird were changed into 

 a call-note, and an angry jarring croak, which it uttered 

 on a near approach. The next year (1884) they appeared 

 again on the 20th April ; this year they were evidently 

 disturbed in their nesting operations by the crowds of people 

 that visited the copse nightly. In 1885 the male bird only 

 was seen, and he disappeared early in June. In 1886 no 

 Nightingale appeared, nor was any heard in the neighbourhood. 

 In 1882 a pair attempted to nest in the Spa grounds in Harro- 

 gate, and attracted much attention. Its fate is shrouded 

 in mystery. 



In 1887 two pairs of Nightingales appeared at Knares- 

 borough, about two miles from Harrogate, during the month 

 of April. They were first heard about the 28th, and took up 

 their summer home at Scriven Park, and on the banks of 

 the River Nidd. The estate belongs to Capt. Slingsby. So 

 far as was ascertained, this was their first visit to Knares- 

 borough. 



In the Naturalist (1889, p. 356), corroborative evidence 

 of the appearance of the songsters at Knaresborough in 

 1889, is given as follows : "I have pleasure in being able 

 to put on record the occurrence and nesting of two pairs 

 of Nightingales in some woods within a short distance of 

 Knaresborough. I am not at liberty to be more precise 

 as to the locality, as I have given an undertaking not to 

 do so." 



The latest information I have been able to procure as to 

 the Knaresborough district is dated 2ist February 1901 ; 

 " A pair of Nightingales was here in the summer of 1892 

 or 1893. They settled in a bank of blackthorn and garden 



