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NIGHTINGALE (O. Eng. Nihtegale, liter...

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 685 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NIGHTINGALE (O. Eng. Nihtegale, literally " See also:singer of the See also:night ") , the See also:bird celebrated beyond See also:ali others by See also:European writers for the admirable vocal See also:powers which, during some See also:weeks after its return from its See also:winter-quarters in the See also:south, it exercises at all See also:hours of the See also:day and night. The See also:song itself is indescribable, though several attempts, from the See also:time of See also:Aristophanes to the See also:present, have been made to See also:express in syllables the See also:sound of its many notes. Poets have descanted on the bird (which they nearly always make of the feminine gender) leaning its See also:breast against a See also:thorn and pouring forth its See also:melody in anguish. Butthe See also:cock alone sings, and there is no See also:reason to suppose that the cause and See also:intent of his song differ in any respect from those of other birds' songs (see SONG). In See also:great contrast to the nightingale's pre-eminent See also:voice is the inconspicuous coloration of its plumage, which is alike in both sexes, and is of a reddish-See also:brown above and dull greyish-See also:white beneath, the breast being rather darker, and the rufous tail showing the only See also:bright tint. The range of the European nightingale, Daulias luscinia, is See also:peculiar. In Great See also:Britain it is abundant in suitable localities to the south-See also:east of a See also:line stretching from the valley of the Exe, in See also:Devonshire, to See also:York, but it doer, not visit See also:Ireland, its occurrence in See also:Wales is doubtful or intermittent, and it is extremely improbable that it has ever reached See also:Scotland. On the See also:continent of See also:Europe it does not occur See also:north of a line stretching irregularly from See also:Copenhagen to the See also:northern Urals, and it is absent in See also:Brittany; over south Europe otherwise it is abundant. It reaches See also:Persia, and is a winter visitor to See also:Arabia, See also:Nubia, See also:Abyssinia, See also:Algeria and as far south as the See also:Gold See also:Coast. The larger eastern D. philomela, sometimes called the See also:thrush-nightingale or Sprosser of See also:German bird-catchers, is russet-brown in both sexes, and is a native of eastern Europe.

D. hafizi of Persia, a true nightingale, is probably the Perso-Arabic bulbul of poets. The nightingale reaches its See also:

English See also:home about the See also:middle of See also:April,' the See also:males (as is usual among migratory birds) arriving some days before the See also:females. On. the cocks being joined by their partners, the See also:work for which the See also:long and hazardous See also:journey of both has been undertaken is speedily begun, and before long the See also:nest is completed. This is of a rather uncommon See also:kind, being placed on or near the ground, the outworks consisting chiefly of a great number of dead leaves ingeniously applied together so that the See also:plane of each is mostly See also:vertical. In the midst of the See also:mass is wrought a deep See also:cup-like hollow, neatly lined with fibrous roots, but the whole is so loosely constructed, and depends for lateral support so much on the stems of the See also:plants, among which it is generally built, that a very slight See also:touch disturbs its beautiful arrangement. Herein from four to six eggs of a deep See also:olive See also:colour are duly laid, and the See also:young hatched. The nestling plumage of the nightingale differs much from that of the adult, the feathers above being tipped with a See also:buff spot, just as in the young of the See also:redbreast, hedge-See also:sparrow and See also:redstart, thereby showing the natural See also:affinity of all these forms. Towards the end of summer the nightingale disappears to its See also:African winter haunts. The name nightingale has been vaguely applied to several other birds. The so-called " Virginian nightingale " is a See also:species of See also:grosbeak (q.v.) ; the " See also:Pekin nightingale " or " See also:Japanese nightingale " is a small babbler (Liothrix luteus) inhabiting the Himalayas and See also:China, not See also:japan at all. The nightingale holds a See also:place in classical See also:mythology. Procne and Philomela were the daughters of Pandion, See also:king of See also:Attica, who in return for warlike aid rendered him by Tereus, king of Daulis in See also:Thrace, gave him the first-named in See also:marriage.

Tereus, however, being enamoured of her See also:

sister, feigned that his wife was dead, and induced Philomela to take her place. On her discovering the truth he cut out her See also:tongue to hinder her from revealing his deceit; but she depicted her sad See also:story on a robe which she. sent to Procne; and the two sisters then contrived a horrible revenge for the infidelity of Tereus, by killing and serving to him at table his son Itys. There-upon the gods interposed, changing Tereus into a See also:hoopoe, Procne into a See also:swallow, and Philomela into a nightingale, while Itys was restored to See also:life as a See also:pheasant, and Pandion (who had died of grief at his daughters' dishonour) as a bird of See also:prey (see See also:OSPREY). The See also:fable has several variants. See also:Ovid's version may be seen in the 6th See also:book of his Metamorphoses (lines 412-676). (A.

End of Article: NIGHTINGALE (O. Eng. Nihtegale, literally " singer of the night ")

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