BRITISH SONG-BIRDS. 99 



about ten days earlier than the females, and con- 

 sequently at this time none but males are caught, 

 he supposes this circumstance will explain the ap- 

 parent disparity. 



Of the Nest and Eggs, 



Nightingales breed in May. The second brood 

 (if they have two,) is ready about the middle of 

 July. The nest is artfully hid under the tangled 

 roots and lower branches of old trees, or thickset 

 hedges, where brambles and briers, matted and 

 interwoven, present a thorny chevaux defrize to 

 all intruders. It cannot be found without tracing 

 the bird to the spot, and even then not without 

 great difficulty. It is composed of dried leaves, 

 withered grass, and straw and moss bound to- 

 gether with fibrous substances, and lined with soft 

 hair and down. The eggs, four or five in num- 

 ber, are of a pale hair-brown, inclining to broccoli- 

 brown, somewhat resembling a pale-coloured nut- 

 meg. In this climate, it is said, the eggs do not 

 all come to perfection. 



