103 



account in Yarrell of the Nightingale breeding in 

 confinement: the two parent birds were caught in 

 England after their arrival in the spring, and after 

 they had paired. 



The food of the Nightingale consists principally 

 of insects, such as flies, moths and earwigs.* M. Pre- 

 vost gives a long list of the various sorts of food of 

 this bird ; and for once I do not think the most dis- 

 contented gardener can take exception to a single 

 article in the whole list, which is as follows: 

 " February, grubs and worms ; March, the same, and 

 chrysalids and ground beetles; April, flies, meal- 

 worms, beetles and red-worms; May, butterflies, 

 weevils, cockchaffers and grubs ; June, spiders and 

 wood-boring beetles ; July, worms, grubs, and eggs 

 of locusts, grasshoppers, moths and flies; August, 

 locusts, glow-worms, weevils and grubs ; September, 

 locusts, beetles, worms and dragonflies; October, 

 grubs, worms and beetles; November, flies and 

 worms." After reading this list, which, although 

 M. Prevost's observations were made in France, is 

 like the rest of his lists, for the most part (except 

 the winter months, in this case) applicable to this 

 country, we must all agree that it is a very great 

 pity Nightingales are not more numerous, if it were 

 only for the benefit they render by the destruction 

 of noxious insects. 



* See Yarrell, vol. i., p. 321. 



