544 



PASSERINES. 



seek its acquaintance. With care I approach the feathered 

 stranger. Its form is somewhat elongated, yet not incompact ; 

 its eyes are large, and of peculiar mildness ; it stands rather high, 

 on a pair of light flesh-coloured, and, as it were, transparent legs ; 

 its wings, which are of moderate length, droop, and seem at 

 intervals to tremble ; and, as it moves from one twig to another, 

 I see it hops, or leaps, and does not walk step by step, like many 

 other birds. Its colour is a dull brownish olive, but the hind 

 part of the back and the tail are of a richer tint, though corre- 

 sponding with the general hue. At this moment it flies lightly to 



Fig. 246. -The Nightingale (Luscinia Philomela, Wood). 



the ground, hops a few steps, picks up a grub, and returns to its 

 former station." 



"The Nightingale," says McGillivray, "which in summer is 

 spread over the greater part of the Continent, extending its 

 migrations to Sweden and the temperate parts of Russia, arrives 

 in the South of England about the middle of April, or a few days 

 later, should the weather be severe. The females, according to 

 various observers, come from a week to ten days after the males. 

 Individuals settle in the southern counties, including part of 

 Devonshire, in the eastern and midland districts, and as far north 



