Common nightingale

The common nightingale or simply nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), also known as rufous nightingale, is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats.

Description

The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European robin, at 15–16.5 cm (5.9–6.5 in) length. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. Sexes are similar. The eastern subspecies L. m. hafizi and L. m. africana 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.

Distribution and habitat

It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and south-west Asia, and wintering in west Africa. It is not found naturally in the Americas. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors.

Nightingale (disambiguation)

The common nightingale is a songbird found in Eurasia.

Nightingale may also refer to:

Birds

Literature

Music

Nightingale (film)

Nightingale is a 2014 American drama film directed by Elliott Lester and written by Frederick Mensch. The film stars David Oyelowo. The film premiered on HBO on May 29, 2015.

Plot

The movie begins with Peter Snowden, a man in his late 30s, recording a video of his confession to murdering his mother. He explains that she was unwilling to allow him, an equal contributor to their household expenses, to have the house to himself for the purpose of entertaining an old military buddy. He goes on to explain that he feels no guilt for the crime but does regret the amount of blood. Peter appears to be a type of YouTube vlogger as he admonishes himself that he can not upload this video and shuts the camera off.

The next day Peter sits at the kitchen table singing happily and enjoying a bowl of what appears to be fruit loops. And as he heads off to work he seems to forget for a moment that the previous night he murdered his mother because he calls to her closed bedroom door to let her know he's leaving. His face registers the new reality.

SWD Eagles

The South Western Districts Eagles are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournament. They represent the Southern Cape (Garden Route & Klein Karoo regions) and play out of Outeniqua Park in George.

History

The South Western Districts Rugby Football Union was established in 1899. Initially, home matches were held in Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and George, but in 1996, the SWDRFU made Outeniqua Park in George its home base.

They have never won the Currie Cup, but they did win the Bankfin Cup in 2002 and the Currie Cup First Division in 2007. They also reached the semi-finals of the Currie Cup in their centenary season in 1999 under Heyneke Meyer.

Sevens

The SWDRFU also hosted the South Africa Sevens leg of the IRB Sevens World Series for several seasons at Outeniqua Park. In 2012, they also launched the 7s Premier League tournament in 2012 held at the same venue.

Current squad

First team

The following players were included in the SWD Eagles squad for the 2015 Currie Cup First Division tournament:

Eagle (Middle-earth)

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the eagles were immense flying birds that were sapient and could speak. Often emphatically referred to as the Great Eagles, they appear, usually and intentionally serving as agents of eucatastrophe or deus ex machina, in various parts of his legendarium, from The Silmarillion and the accounts of Númenor to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Just as the Ents are guardians of plant life, the giant eagles are the guardians of animal life.

These creatures are usually thought to have been similar to actual eagles (for example, as an independent species of the subfamily Buteoninae), but much larger. In The Silmarillion, Thorondor is said to have been the greatest of them and of all birds, with a wingspan of 30 fathoms (180 ft; 55 m). Elsewhere, the eagles have varied in nature and size both within Tolkien's writings and in later visualisations and films.

Appearances

The difference between "common" eagles and Great Eagles is prominently described in The Hobbit:

Eagles (2012 film)

Eagles is a 2012 Israeli drama film directed by Dror Sabo.

Cast

References

External links