NIGHTINGALE.- L scinia Philomela. 



sound, which is uttered by way of warning, and accompanied with a sharp snapping sound 

 of the beak. The time when the Nightingales sing loudest and most constantly is during 

 the week or two after their arrival, for they are then engaged in attracting their mates, 

 and sing in fierce rivalry of each other, hoping to fascinate their brides by the splendour 

 of their voices. When once the bird has procured a partner, he becomes deeply attached 

 to her, and if he should be captured, soon pines away and dies, full of sorrowful remem- 

 brances. The bird dealers are therefore anxious to catch the Nightingale before the first 

 week has elapsed, as they can then, by dint of care and attention, preserve the bird in full 

 song to a very late period. Mr. Yarrell mentions an instance where a caged Nightingale 

 sang upon an hundred and fourteen successive days. 



The nest of the Nightingale is always placed upon or very near the ground, and is 

 generally carefully hidden beneath heavy foliage. One such nest that I discovered in 

 Wiltshire was placed among the knotted and gnarled roots of an old ivy-covered thorn 

 stump that still maintained its place within a yard of a footpath. The nest is made of 

 grass and leaves, and is of exceedingly slight construction, so slight, indeed, that to remove 

 it without damage is a very difficult process, and requires the careful use of the hands. 

 The eggs are generally four and sometimes five in number, and are of a peculiar smooth 

 olive-brown, that distinguishes them at once from the egg of any other British bird of the 

 same size. 



The colour of the Nightingale is a rich hair-brown upon the upper parts of the body, 

 and greyish-white below, the throat being of a lighter hue than the breast and abdomen. 

 The entire length of the bird rather exceeds six inches. 



THE little GRASSHOPPER WARBLER has earned its name by its very peculiar song, 

 which bears a singular resemblance to the cry of the grasshopper or the field cricket. It 

 arrives in England some time in April, according to the weather, and leaves us in 

 September. 



Speaking of this bird, Mr. White, the naturalist of Selborne, says : " Nothing can be 

 more amusing than the whisper of this little bird, which seems to be close by, though at a 

 hundred yards' distance ; and when close at your ear is scarce louder than when a great 



