The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale, is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats. The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European robin. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. The eastern subspecies and the Caucasian subspecies have paler upperparts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale supercilium. The song of the nightingale has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, inspiring songs, fairy tales, opera, books, and a great deal of poetry. It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and the Palearctic, and wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is not found naturally in the Americas. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. In the U.K., the bird is at the northern limit of its range which has contracted in recent years, placing it o