THE SINGING BIRDS. 187 



incessantly. Some few pour forth their trilling notes throughout the long, bright night ; but, for the 

 most part, they only sing during the clay, except just at the commencement of the breeding season, 

 when the desire to please and attract their mates renders the male birds excited and restless. The 

 nest of the Nightingale is a mere heap of dry leaves, rushes, and grass, with a lining of horsehair, 

 cotton wool, or 1 any similarly elastic material; occasionally twigs and straw are also employed. 

 Naumann mentions an instance of a Nightingale building on a branch five feet from the ground, and 

 of another that made its preparations for its little family in the centre of a heap of dry leaves that had 

 been thrown down in a garden-shed ; these are, however, exceptions to the general rule, their nests 

 being, for the most part, placed in low bushes, upon felled trees, or in holes in the ground. The 

 eggs, from four to six in number, have a delicate, glossy, greenish grey shell. Both parents assist in 

 hatching their young, who are tended with great care, the male keeping a very sharp eye indeed upon 

 his mate, lest she should endeavour to leave her charge in order to take a peep at the outer world, 

 or even to stretch her wearied limbs. Baszler mentions having been much amused upon one 

 occasion, when he had scared a brooding female from her nest, by the cries of reproof and marital 

 pecks that were forcibly employed by her indignant spouse, in order to drive back his partner to her 

 maternal duties. Worms of various kinds, the larvaa of insects, ants, smooth-skinned caterpillars, and 

 some species of beetles, constitute the principal food of the adult birds, and upon these the nestlings 

 are likewise reared. During the autumn they also consume large quantities of berries. The young 

 remain under the care of their parents until the approach of the moulting season. Almost 

 immediately after leaving the shell the young males commence trying their voices, but give little or 

 no indication of their future capabilities in the notes they utter during the first months of their life. 

 It is not until the following spring that they become possessed of their full powers, at which time 

 they seek a mate, and in her honour begin to pour forth a copious flood of sounds, as sweet and 

 enchanting as those of the older birds. The moulting season commences about July, after which the 

 autumn migrations commence. These journeyings are accomplished in families, or small parties, die 

 birds flying with great rapidity to very distant countries. We ourselves have met with them 

 occasionally in the forests of Southern Nubia and Eastern Soudan, and have observed that they 

 appear to make themselves but little conspicuous during their absence from their native lands. 

 About the middle of April they reappear in Europe, the males coming first, and at once seek their 

 former haunts, announcing their welcome presence, 'and greeting their old home by joyous strains, 

 that are continued without intermission for hours at a time, and even prolonged far into the 

 night. 



The HEDGE SINGERS, or TREE NIGHTINGALES {Aedon or Agrobates), bear a strong 

 family likeness to the True Nightingales, both in their habits and general appearance. They are 

 met with in Southern Europe, North-western Asia, and Northern Africa. The members of this family 

 are recognisable by their elongated body and comparatively strong beak, the upper mandible of 

 which is very decidedly bent; the third and fourth quills of the long, broad wings are of equal 

 length, the tail much rounded, and the tarsi low. Their plumage is soft, silky, and of a pale reddish 

 brown, lightest upon the under side. The sexes are alike in colour, and the young without any spots 

 upon their feathers. So very similar are all these birds in their mode of life that we shall confine 

 ourselves to a full description of but one species. 



THE TREE NIGHTINGALE. 

 The Tree Nightingale {Aedon galactodes) is of a reddish grey upon the upper parts of the body, 

 darker upon the top of the head than elsewhere ; the nape is greyish, the under side greyish yellow or 



