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superior songsters to those found in the Crimea. Mr. Goebel says that in the Uman district it is 

 rare, and for every one of the present species at least twenty of Daulias philomela are met with. 

 Dr. Kriiper states that it is not uncommon in Asia Minor, and arrived near Smyrna on the 2nd 

 April in 1863, and on the 10th April in 1864. Strickland heard its song first on the 5th April at 

 Hushak ; Canon Tristram met with it in Palestine, where it is generally distributed, arriving late 

 in March, and breeding in the Jordan valley and other sheltered spots ; and Kotschy observed it 

 in Cyprus. It occurs in Arabia and Egypt; and Captain Shelley writes (B. of Egypt, p. 88) as 

 follows: — "Although the Nightingale ranges throughout Egypt and Nubia during the winter, 

 it is far from being common. I only once saw a pair, and heard their well-known notes, while 

 reposing, during the heat of the day, in a small wood near Bedreshayn, in the latter end of March." 

 Von Heuglin says that it appears on passage in March and September in Egypt, Arabia, Nubia, 

 and Abyssinia, usually singly, but sometimes in small scattered companies. Dr. A. E. Brehm 

 states (J. f. O. 1854, p. 457) that it ranges as far as Sudahn, and that he observed it near the 

 town of Berber on the 7th and 10th of September. It is said to breed in Algeria. Mr. Salvin 

 met with it in a wooded ravine near Khifan Msakta early in April ; and Mr. Taczanowski 

 observed it at Bouarif in January. M. Favier states (fide Colonel Irby) that it is " very common 

 around Tangier, arriving during March and April, passing on across the Straits to return in 

 August and September; but great quantities remain to breed about the thick bushy places, 

 chiefly constructing their nests with the fibres of the palmetto, the same materials used by the 

 Arabs in making their tents." As regards its eastern range, I cannot trace it beyond the localities 

 above mentioned. Menetries certainly stated that it was found in the Caucasus; and Da Filippi, 

 in Persia ; but Mr. Blanford informs me that the birds obtained by these two gentlemen must 

 have been referable to Daulias liafizi, SevertzofF, and not to the present species. 



This, the best-known and most highly esteemed of our songsters, is essentially a bird of the 

 woodlands, and is always found in the groves or woods on the plains, never in the mountains or 

 in conifer-woods, but in tolerably low non-evergreen growth where there is a fairly abundant 

 undergrowth, and where the soil is rather damp, or where damp ditches or water is not far 

 distant. It is a very unobtrusive bird ; and although the song of the male may be heard daily, it 

 is astonishing how seldom a casual observer obtains a glimpse of the bird itself. The males 

 arrive first in the spring, and appear to be wearied and travel-worn when they first appear; but 

 they soon recuperate, and when, after the lapse of a few days, the females commence to appear 

 they have recovered their usual sprightliness and soon break out into their matchless song, which 

 may be heard until the young are hatched. The song of this bird is with justice considered to 

 be the richest and most melodious of all of our songsters' ; and it is impossible to reproduce its 

 notes in words so as to give any idea of it. No bird has so varied and sweet a song ; and it is so 

 rich and full that one is astonished that it can be produced by so small a bird. There is, how- 

 ever, much individual difference in the quality of the song of birds from different localities, as is 

 well known by all the bird-fanciers, especially by the Germans ; and Naumann remarks that 

 those from Pomerania are the worst songsters, whereas those from WSrlitz, in Anhalt-Dessau, 

 are the best he ever heard. 



As a rule, the Nightingale is not a shy bird ; and far from shunning the presence of man, it 

 appears in preference to take up its abode somewhere in the vicinity of inhabited places. Nor is 



