94 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



allied to the Robin, however, is partial to a forest 

 south of resting-place, and that is the charming NIGHT- 

 X k of and INGALE (Eritkacus luscinia). It is only our 

 southern and eastern woods that are favoured 

 with the. presence of this sweet musician, easily 

 recognised by his rich brown dress and chestnut 

 tail, and by his Robin-like ways. His kinship 

 with our little red-breasted friend is apparent to 

 the most casual observer ; the way he flicks his 

 tail and wings and drops from the bushes on to 

 the open drives or leaf-strewn ground is quite 

 enough to proclaim his affinity, even without 

 looking at his cosily concealed nest. The Night- 

 ingale, par excellence, is the minstrel of the woods, 

 especially such as are damp and well watered, 

 and withal a trustful if a wary one. Many and 

 many a time whilst seated in the southern woods 

 have I had this dark-eyed singer pour out his 

 rich, full music almost at my feet, so close that 

 every movement of his throat could be discerned 

 during the progress of his song. In spring he is 

 almost as pugnacious as a Robin, and drives off 

 all intruding birds from his own particular privacy, 

 chasing them through the branches with harsh 

 croaks of displeasure. It will be observed that 

 the Nightingale, like the Robin, is a bird of the 

 lower vegetation, seldom visiting the trees, 

 always preferring to skulk where the brushwood 

 is thickest. Worms, insects and their larvae, and 

 fruit, form the food of this bird. The nesting 

 season of the Nightingale begins in May. The 

 nest is usually made among the herbage below 

 brushwood, but occasionally among the exposed 

 roots of a tree on a bank, or among ivy, and is 

 made externally of dry grass and other vegetation 



