nightingale

nightingale, common name for a migratory Old World bird of the family Turdidae (thrush family), celebrated for its vocal powers. The common nightingale of England and Western Europe, Luscinia megarhynchos, is about 6 1-2 in. (16.3 cm) long, reddish-brown above and grayish-white below. It winters in Africa and reaches England about mid-April. Its famous song is delivered only by the male during the breeding season, at any time of day or night. A larger species is found in Eastern Europe. The bulbul, a prodigious songster of Persian literature, was once thought to be a nightingale but has been identified with another family; the Virginia nightingale is a grosbeak; and the Pekin, or Japanese, nightingale belongs to the babbler family. Nightingales are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Turdidae.

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nightingale

Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus megarhynchos)

(credit: H. Reinhard—Bruce Coleman Inc.)

Any of several small Old World thrushes (family Turdidae) renowned for their song. The name refers in particular to the Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus megarhynchos), a brown bird, 6.5 in. (16 cm) long, with a rufous tail. It sings day and night from perches in shubbery. Its strong and varied song, with prominent crescendo effects, has been regarded for centuries throughout Europe and Asia as the most beautiful of all birdsongs. The thrush nightingale, or sprosser (E. luscinia), is a closely related, more northerly species with slightly darker plumage. The term is also applied to other birds with rich songs (e.g., the wood thrush).

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nightingale

identified with mortality. [Animal Symbolism: Mercatante, 163]

See : Death

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nightingale

immortal bird whose voice has been heard from time immemorial. [Br. Poetry: Keats “Ode to a Nightingale”]

See : Immortality