David Penty British Library Nightingale This is a recording of the song of the nightingale. Despite its nondescript appearance, the nightingale is one of Britain's most celebrated birds and its sublime voice has been immortalised in music and literature. It is also a bird that is much easier to hear than to see, and is famous for it's skulking habitat, often choosing the middle of impenetrable scrub from which to deliver its powerful and beautiful song. When seen, it is slightly larger than a robin with a brown coloration and a distinctive rusty-coloured rump and cocked tail. The nightingale's song is only heard for a brief period between April and early June, and consists of a virtuoso performance of liquid trills and repeated phrases, ending in a crescendo. When it first arrives from its central African wintering quarters, it is commonly heard well after dark when other species have ceased singing, but it does also sing during the day. Nightingales can breed in a variety of habitats with large areas of thick scrub that are often situated close to water, but are rarely found north of a line between the Humber and the Severn estuary. Their range has contracted during the 20th century, and recent surveys put the number of singing males at no more than 5,000 to 6,000. sounds.bl.uk/022M-W1CDR0001378-0800V0 W1CDR0001378 BD8 1964/05 http://sounds.bl.uk/JISC ASR IPR STATUS LIST.xls Shove, Lawrence OS Grid Reference(402500,88500) Birds sound 1 1 1 1 1 0 Nightingale British Wildlife Recordings 1964 BL Product Identifier :W1CDR0001378 BD8 022 British Wildlife Recordings, Wildlife W1CDR0001378 AB 022M-W1CDR0001378-0800V0 00:02:26 00:02:26