168 



BIRDS NESTS. 



NIGHTINGALE. Luscinia Philomela. 



PLATE XXI. FIG. 3. 



THE Nightingale, though unrivalled as a 

 musician, can boast of no great architectural 

 skill. It constructs its nest, placed either 

 quite on the ground, or at the very base of a 

 bush, of dry oak leaves, so imperfectly fastened 

 together with bents and fine roots, that it is 

 almost impossible to remove it without utterly 

 destroying it. The eggs, usually five in number, 

 are of a uniform olive brown, and but little 

 larger than those of the hedge sparrow. 



