In the kingdom of birds, nightingale enjoys a unique status for its ability to sing. This quality of nightingale has made it quite popular with poets and no bird has been written of so much by the poets as the nightingale. Aristophanes, the great Greek poet wrote about it in the 4th century B.C. and Keats in the 19th century.
According to the poets, the nightingale sings only at night and in almost any season of the year. But this goes against the facts as the bird sings both in the day as well as in the night. Poets had a wrong perception because they could hear it only in the night and not in the day. The reason for this being that the song of nightingale is not audible in the day as it is being overshadowed by the chirping of other birds but it is distinctly heard in the silence of the night. Again, since nightingale is a migratory bird hence its voice is generally not heard throughout the year at a particular place. From season to season, it migrates to different places.
Another surprising fact about this bird is that it is only the male nightingale that sings. The reason is to attract its female species from the neighbouring bush or tree. The male continues singing until the female has hatched out her brood. And then he stops to avoid the attention of the enemies. He stays on guard. His notes become short calls to tell his mate that all is well, or to warn her of some danger. The male and female resemble each other a great deal — reddish-brown above and dull grayish-white beneath.
The nest of a nightingale is placed on or near the ground in dump shady woodland. The outside of the nest consists mostly of dead leaves set up vertically. In the midst is a deep cuplike hollow, neatly lined with fibres from roots. It is very loosely constructed and a very slight touch can disturb it. The bird generally lays four to six eggs of a deep olive colour.