Nightingale

/nuyt"n gayl', nuy"ting-/, n.

Florence ("the Lady with the Lamp"), 1820-1910, English nurse: reformer of hospital conditions and procedures; reorganizer of nurse's training programs.

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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).

Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus megarhynchos)

H. Reinhard

Bruce Coleman Inc.

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▪ bird

 any of several small Old World thrushes, belonging to the family Turdidae (order Passeriformes), renowned for their song. The name refers in particular to the Eurasian nightingale (Erithacus, or Luscinia, megarhynchos; see photograph—>), a brown bird, 16 centimetres (6 ¹/₂ inches) long, with a rufous tail. Its strong and varied song, in which crescendo effects are prominent, is uttered by day or night from perches in shrubbery.

      The thrush nightingale (sprosser), or sprosser (E. luscinia), is a closely related, somewhat more northerly species with slightly darker plumage. Its song lacks the crescendo.

      The term nightingale is also applied to other birds with rich songs, such as members of the neotropical nightingale thrush (q.v.) group, the Chinese nightingale (see Leiothrix), and, in the West Indies, the mockingbird (q.v.).

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