_Nat. size_]
No sooner have the Nightingales arrived in Europe than their song is to
be heard almost incessantly. Some few pour forth their trilling notes
throughout the long, bright night; but, for the most part, they only
sing during the day, except just at the commencement of the breeding
season, when the desire to please and attract their mates renders the
male birds excited and restless. The nest of the Nightingale is a mere
heap of dry leaves, rushes, and grass, with a lining of horsehair,
cotton wool, or any similarly elastic material; occasionally twigs and
straw are also employed. Naumann mentions an instance of a Nightingale
building on a branch five feet from the ground, and of another that made
its preparations for its little family in the centre of a heap of dry
leaves that had been thrown down in a garden-shed; these are, however,
exceptions to the general rule, their nests being, for the most part,
placed in low bushes, upon felled trees, or in holes in the ground. The
eggs, from four to six in number, have a delicate, glossy, greenish
grey shell. Both parents assist in hatching their young, who are tended
with great care, the male keeping a very sharp eye indeed upon his
mate, lest she should endeavour to leave her charge in order to take a
peep at the outer world, or even to stretch her wearied limbs. Bäszler
mentions having been much amused upon one occasion, when he had scared a
brooding female from her nest, by the cries of reproof and marital pecks
that were forcibly employed by her indignant spouse, in order to drive
back his partner to her maternal duties. Worms of various kinds, the
larvæ of insects, ants, smooth-skinned caterpillars, and some species of
beetles, constitute the principal food of the adult birds, and upon these
the nestlings are likewise reared. During the autumn they also consume
large quantities of berries. The young remain under the care of their
parents until the approach of the moulting season. Almost immediately
after leaving the shell the young males commence trying their voices,
but give little or no indication of their future capabilities in the
notes they utter during the first months of their life. It is not until
the following spring that they become possessed of their full powers,
at which time they seek a mate, and in her honour begin to pour forth a
copious flood of sounds, as sweet and enchanting as those of the older
birds. The moulting season commences about July, after which the autumn
migrations commence. These journeyings are accomplished in families,
or small parties, the birds flying with great rapidity to very distant
countries. We ourselves have met with them occasionally in the forests
of Southern Nubia and Eastern Soudan, and have observed that they appear
to make themselves but little conspicuous during their absence from
their native lands. About the middle of April they reappear in Europe,
the males coming first, and at once seek their former haunts, announcing
their welcome presence, and greeting their old home by joyous strains,
that are continued without intermission for hours at a time, and even
prolonged far into the night.
* * * * *
The HEDGE SINGERS, or TREE NIGHTINGALES (_Aëdon_ or _Agrobates_), bear a
strong family likeness to the True Nightingales, both in their habits and
general appearance. They are met with in Southern Europe, North-western
Asia, and Northern Africa. The members of this family are recognisable by
their elongated body and comparatively strong beak, the upper mandible of
which is very decidedly bent; the third and fourth quills of the long,
broad wings are of equal length, the tail much rounded, and the tarsi
low. Their plumage is soft, silky, and of a pale reddish brown, lightest
upon the under side. The sexes are alike in colour, and the young without
any spots upon their feathers. So very similar are all these birds in
their mode of life that we shall confine ourselves to a full description
of but one species.