BLYTH ON THE NIGHTINGALE. 



199 



last vary as to the quantity of feathers, &c. they make use of in lining, 

 the variation being always in accordance with the structure of the 

 bird. 



From this it would appear, that the resemblance which exists 

 between birds of the same genus, is generally apparent also in the 

 structure of their nests. That of the nightingale differs exceedingly 

 from those of the other birds associated with it in Curruca ; it being 

 built of decayed leaves and lined with dry grass and horse hair, 

 more resembling those of the different species of Phcenicura; while the 

 nests of the sylvan warblers are formed of various small slender 

 stems woven together into a kind of basket-work, and lined with dry 

 grass and hair ; certainly as unlike that of the nightingale as they 

 can well be. The situation, also, of the nightingale's nest is al- 

 ways on the ground, among the materials of which it is composed j 

 whilst those of the sylvan warblers are as invariably placed in a bush. 



The eggs of the five above-mentioned sylvan warblers possess great 

 generic similitude, in colour, and in markings ; assimilating most in 

 those species which resemble most each other. That of the nightin- 

 gale is very unlike any of them. This of itself, however, does not 

 constitute any very material dissimilarity, as we occasionally find 

 species which closely resemble each other, (as the robin and redstart, 

 for instance,) differing remarkably in this respect. But it is at the 

 same time worthy of remark, and the more so, as the eggs of the 

 other species are so similar. 



The song also of the sylvan warblers is usually delivered in a long, 

 continuous, hurried warble ; generally beginning low, and increasing in 

 loudness as they proceed. That of the nightingale is loud, broken, and 

 interrupted; being uttered more in the manner of the song thrush {Turdus 

 musicus). I would not, however, lay too much stress on any of these par- 

 ticulars, taken singly, as they are all subject to many exceptions ; but 

 taken conjointly, and altogether, they seem to intimate, that our 

 nightingale, with the Sylvia Philomela and S. sericea of M. Temminck, 

 (species closely resembling it), possess sufficient peculiarities to warrant 

 their being placed as a distinct genus. 



A striking diversity again presents itself in the plumage of the 

 young birds ; in the various warblers the young and the adults are 

 nearly alike ; but the plumage of the young nightingale is mottled, 

 like that of the young redbreast, or redstart ; each feather having a 

 whitish spot at the tip ; in which they also resemble the young of the 



