THE NIGHTINGALE. 



tion. Of course, odd specimens have 

 been heard by trustworthy observers 

 beyond these hmits, but they are ex- 

 ceptional, and the species is unknown 

 both in Scotland and Ireland. Attempts 

 have been made from time to time to 

 induce the bird to extend its range, but 

 they have one and all proved futile. 

 The late Sir John Sinclair had numbers 

 of eggs sent from the South of England 

 and placed in Robins' nests in Caithness, 

 but although the closely allied foster- 

 mothers successfully hatched and reared 

 the young Nightingales they went off 

 and never returned. The experiment of 

 turning adult birds down in certain parts 

 of Wales beyond the localities reached 

 by free members of the species also 

 proved a failure. It is said to " be 

 met with only where the cowslip grows 

 kindly," but this extraordinary assertion 

 is difficult to understand, because it is 

 hard to remember where that common 

 and hardy plant does not " grow kindly." 

 The nest is made of dry grass stalks, 

 dead leaves, moss, bits of bark, and 

 fibrous roots, and is lined with fine grass 

 and horsehair. It is built on or near 

 the ground, on a little bank at the foot 

 of a tree, at the bottom of a hedgerow, 

 '3' 



