HABITAT OF THE NIGHTINGALE. 
Tiuu tiuu tiuu tiuu — spe tiuu zqua 
Tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tix — qutio qutio qutio qutio 
Zquo zquo zquo zquo — tzu tzu tzu tzu tzu tzu tzu tzu tzu tzi 
Quorror tui zqua pipiquisi — zozozozozozozozozozozozo zizzhoding, &c. 
Habitat of the Nightingale. — The nightingale builds its 
nest in low thickset bushes. It generally affects low marshy 
land, not, as has been said, because it loves to abide in a moist 
atmosphere, but because in such situations’ stunted bushes 
generally abound. The nest is by no means a model of bird 
architecture. Tt is loose and rough, and most generally com- 
posed of hay, dried leaves and twigs on the outside, while the 
inside is indifferently lined with hah* or wool. In choosing a 
situation for her nest, the nightingale displays considerable 
ingenuity, taking advantage of any rut or fall in the ground, 
indeed it is by no means uncommon to find the nest o?i the 
ground, on a sand-bank, or in a hole in the side of a hill. 
From three to six eggs may be found hi the nest, and they 
j are of a greenish-brown colour. 
Nesting fob, Nightingales. — If you want nestlings to raise 
by hand, your time for finding them will be the last week in 
May. The eggs are laid at the end of April, they take fourteen 
days to hatch, and, at the time recommended for taking the 
nestlings, they will be rather more than a fortnight old. 
One of the best ways of discovering a nightingale’s nest, is 
to discover the bush where he sits to sing. Then (taking care 
that you are not seen) screw a few mealworms in a bit of 
tissue paper, and throw it near the bush. The nightingale, 
who is a most inquisitive bird, will come down to see what it 
is, and, discovering the mealworms, will immediately take some 
in her beak and fly off to the nest ; you follow, and from the 
chirping of the hungry nestlings you discover your prize. 
Bear in mind that the males are lighter than the females, es- 
pecially about the throat. Take these and leave the hens. 
One can easily imagine the grief and despair of so sensitive a 
bird as the nightingale at finding her home routed, and her 
little family stolen : — 
“The nightingale, 
When returning with her loaded bill, 
The astonished mother finds a vacant nest, 
By the hard hands of unrelenting clowns 
Bobbed ; to the ground the vain provision falls, 
Her pinions ruffle, and low drooping, scarce 
Can bear the mourner to the poplar shade ; 
Where, all abandoned to despair, she sings 
Her sorrow through the night, and in the bough 
Sole sitting, still at every dying fall 
m2 • 163 
