7S - THE NIGHTINGALE. 



record their notes, which the hens do but 

 little, or not at all. 



The female builds her nest in the bot- 

 tom of a thick bush, or close set hedge, 

 a little above the edge of the bank, and 

 most commonly in those hedges where 

 briars and thorns are pretty numerous : 

 the nest itself is composed of dry grass, 

 leaves, moss, intermixed with small fibres, 

 and lined with hair and down; the eggs, which 

 are four or five in number, are of a pale 

 nutmeg brown, and the first young ones 

 (for they have two, and sometimes three 

 broods in a year) are hatched about the 

 middle of May ; the second brood is 

 hatched about the middle of July. 



The nightingale is seldom observed to 

 sing near its nest, but generally at a stone's 

 throw distant, frequenting cool and shady 

 places, where there are little rivulets of 

 water, and where the trees are low and 

 thick, as the oak is the only high tree in 

 which it delights. 



In order to find the nightingale's nest, 

 take notice where the cock sings, and if 

 you find that he sings long in one place, 



