320 SYLVIAM. 



the birds taken in the county of Surrey are considered to 

 possess the finest quality of song. By particular feeding 

 and judicious management, a male may be kept in song for 

 three months together ; and I remember to have heard it 

 stated by a successful keeper of Nightingales, that a bird 

 of his had sung his song round upon one hundred and 

 fourteen successive days. 



The localities frequented by the Nightingale are woods 

 having thick undergrowth, low coppices, plantations, and 

 hedgerows. The extensive grounds around London which 

 are cultivated by market-gardeners, are favourite haunts 

 with this bird ; low damp meadows near streams are also 

 frequented ; and M. Vieillot says they are partial to the 

 vicinity of an echo. From the pairing time to the hatching 

 of the young, the male continues in full song, not only 

 singing at intervals throughout the day, but frequently 

 serenading his partner during the night ; and Pennant says, 

 the name of the bird is derived from our term night, and 

 the Saxon word galan, to sing. The nest of this bird is 

 almost always placed on the ground : advantage is taken 

 of a slight depression in the soil, some dead oak and horn- 

 beam leaves are deposited therein, with a few dried bents 

 and portions of rushes, lined internally towards the bottom 

 with fine fibrous roots ; but so loosely constructed, that it 

 is generally necessary to pass thread or string several times 

 round the whole nest, before removing it, if desirous of 

 preserving its form. The eggs are four or five in number, 

 of a uniform olive brown colour, and measuring ten lines in 

 length by eight lines and a half in breadth. The eggs are 

 produced in May, and the young are hatched in June. 

 From this period the song of the male is heard no more ; a 

 single low croaking note is uttered as a warning should 

 danger threaten, occasionally changing to a sharp snapping 

 noise, made with the beak, which is considered to be a note 



