40 NIGHTINGALE. 
southern provinces. From the Caucasus eastward to Turkestan and 
Persia, is found a closely allied form, D. go/zi7—rather more olive- 
coloured, with longer bill and tail ; while in Scandinavia, Denmark, 
and Eastern Europe our bird is replaced by the rather larger 
“Sprosser,” D. philomela :—a distinct species, less russet in hue, 
slightly spotted on the breast, and with a minute bastard primary. 
In autumn our Nightingale leaves Europe and even Asia Minor: 
wintering as far south as Abyssinia and the Gold Coast. 
The nest, commenced early in May, is composed of dead leaves 
of the oak and other trees, and is usually placed on or near the 
ground in low underwood and close hedge-row bottoms—always on 
the warmer side. In Spain I have found it fully five feet from the 
ground, in the tops of broad hedges and the sides of clipped 
cypress and myrtle trees. The 4-6 eggs are mostly of an olive- 
brown, but some birds, which often return to the same place, lay 
eggs of a blue-green mottled with reddish-brown, somewhat 
resembling those of the Bluethroat: measurements °8 by ‘6 in. 
The young are hatched in June ; after which the male discontinues 
his melodious song—uttered hitherto by day as well as by night in 
genial weather—and merely retains a harsh croak. Spiders, ants, 
and small green caterpillars are the food of the nestlings, and in 
July and August the young frequent fields planted with peas and 
beans ; the adults live on worms, insects, ants’ eggs, fruit and 
berries, especially those of the elder. Favourite resorts are small 
woods at no great distance from water and the coppices bordering 
damp meadows. The Nightingale does not bear captivity well, yet 
birds have been kept through the winter, and have even reared 
young in confinement. The well-known song needs no description ; 
the alarm-note being a wate, wate, cur-cur. In August the young 
take their departure, the old birds remaining till September to com- 
plete their moult. Migration is supposed to be performed singly 
and not in flocks; but Mr. T. J. Monk states that on April 13th, 
1872, Nightingales were resting in numbers under the bathing- 
machines along the whole length of the shore at Brighton. 
In the adult the upper parts are russet-brown shading into reddish- 
chestnut on the tail-coverts and tail, the colour of the latter being 
very noticeable in flight ; under parts greyish-white, turning to buff 
on the flanks and breast ; bill, legs and feet brown. The sexes are 
alike in plumage. Length 6°5 in.; wing to tip of 3rd and longest 
primary 3°35 in. The young in first plumage are darker, with 
yellowish-brown  shaft-streaks to the upper feathers and greyish- 
brown bars on the under parts. 
