PEKIN NIGHTINGALE, OR JAPANESE ROBIN. 153 



PEKIN NIGHTINGALE, OR JAPANESE ROBIN. 



THE above bird, of which but meagre accounts are written, is known also as the 

 Japanese Robin, the Chinese Nightingale, and East Indian Sun-bird. As a cage- 

 bird, the Pekin Nightingale commends itself as one of the most attractive in the 

 entire list, on account of his sprightly song, his lightning, graceful movements, and 

 his exceeding hardiness. The bird is an inhabitant of the Oriental countries, where 

 large flocks dart among the trees of the groves and forests. They are favorite 

 birds, even in their own countries, where their delightful, mellow calls, dashing move- 

 ments, and flashing colors, add greatly to the charming Oriental scenery. The 

 Eastern countries are noted for breeding gorgeous-hued birds, but no bird imported 

 from there combines the attractive qualities of this universal little favorite. The 

 Pekin Nightingale is about five inches and a half in length. The upper parts of 

 the body are brownish olive ; the breast and throat are a brilliant shade of orange ; 

 the wing-feathers are bronze-colored tipped with orange, and the tail-feathers rusty 

 black barred with white feathers ; the beak is long and slender, and of the same 

 brilliant color as the breast ; the eyes are large, black, and very expressive, and are 

 surrounded by a ring of white. The female Nightingales and the young males are 

 distinguished from the old males by the dull colors instead of the bright tints ob- 

 served in the male ; while their backs are grayish bronze, and their breasts are lemon- 

 colored. 



The nest is a very neatly constructed affair, and is usually built on 'low trees or 

 shrubs. The female lays four bluish eggs, and hatches out two broods in a season. 

 The male and female sit alternately, hatching the eggs in twelve or thirteen days. 



The importation of these birds during the past few years has been very great ; 

 as the demand for them, where their attractions as cage-birds were revealed, in- 

 creased more rapidly than has been the case with any wild bird known to bird-sellers. 

 They may be bred easily in confinement, and the large zoological gardens of Europe 

 in a great measure supply the extensive call for them by breeding them in large 

 numbers. It is said that the largest part of a nestling is his eyes ; and when these 

 are seen, as the youngster peers over the side of the nest, they appear to be of 

 unnatural brilliancy and size. 



The rapidity of movement with which the Pekin Nightingale darts around his 

 cage cannot be described, and is surpassed by no other bird. "Now you see him, 

 and now you don't," is strikingly illustrated by his lightning moves; this activity 

 is one of the bird's chief charms : and if he should be compared to the mopish, lazy- 

 moving songsters which are better known than he, whose praises are sung by all 

 writers on birds, the Pekin songster would at once claim first attention. 



