BRITISH BJRDS. 143 



THE NIGHTINGALE. 



(Sylvia luscinia^ Lath. Bee-fin rossignol^ Temm.) 



THIS bird, so universally esteemed for the excel- 

 lence of its song, is not remarkable for the variety 

 or richness of its plumage. It is somewhat more 

 than six inches in length The bill is brown, yel- 

 low on the edges at the base ; eyes hazel ; the 

 whole upper part of the body is of a rusty brown, 

 tinged with olive ; the under parts pale ash, almost 

 white at the throat and vent; the quills are brown, 

 with reddish margins; legs pale brown. The male 

 and female are very similar. 



Although the Nightingale is common in this 

 country, it never visits the northern parts of our 

 island, and is but seldom seen in the western 

 counties of Devonshire and Cornwall : it leaves us 

 sometime in the month of August, and makes its 

 regular return in the beginning of April ; it is 

 supposed, during that interval, to visit the distant 

 regions of Asia; this is probable, as these birds do 



