308 THE NIGHTINGALE. 
1s so powerfully attracted by the common mealworm, that one of these crea- 
tures employed as a bait is sure to attract the bird to its destruction. It 
appears to make great havoc among the caterpillars, which come out to feed 
at night, and are to be seen so abundantly on damp warm evenings. In the 
autumn it is somewhat of a fruit-eater, and has been seen in the act of eating 
“ blackheart” cherries, plucking them from the tree and carrying them to its 
young. 
As is well known. the song of the Nightingale is mostly uttered after sun- 
set, but the bird may be heard in full song throughout the day. Towards 
the end of June, wien the young birds are hatched, the song changes into a 
kind of rough croaking sound, which is uttered by way of warning, and 
accompanied with a sharp snapping sound of the beak. The time when the 
Nightingales sing loudest and most constantly is during the week or two 
after their arrival, for they are then engaged in attracting their mates, and 
sing in fierce rivalry of each other, hoping to fascinate their brides by the 
RSs 
Wa SS 
WHEATEAR. —(Saxicola enanthe.) 
splendour of their voices. When once the bird has procured a partner, he 
becomes deeply attached to her, and if he should be captured, soon pines 
away and dies, full of sorrowful remembrances. The bird-dealers are there- 
fore anxious to catch the Nightingale before the first week has elapsed, as 
they can then, by dint of care and attention, preserve the bird in full song to 
a very late period. Mr. Yarrel mentions an instance where a caged Night- 
ingale sang upon a hundred and fourteen successive days. 
The nest of the Nightingale is always placed upon or very near the 
ground, and is generally carefully hidden beneath heavy foliage. One such 
nest that I discovered in Wiltshire was placed among the knotted and 
gnarled roots of an old ivy-covered thorn-stump that still maintained its 
place within a yard of a footpath. The nest is made of grass and leaves, 
and is of exceedingly slight construction, so slight, indeed, that to remove it 
without damage is a very difficult process, and requires the careful use of the 
hands. The eggs are generally four and sometimes five in number, and are 
