Oliver G Pike
Books: The Nightingale
The nightingale was a favourite bird of Oliver Pike. There
is only one book that he wrote that has a single bird as its
title, although it contains chapters on many other birds.
The nightingale is, of course, famous for its song,
although few people in Britain nowadays will have heard it.
It is much scarcer now than it was when this book was
written.
The Nightingale
This was first published in October 1932. The dust-jacket
shows a photograph of a nightingale with food for its young.
The dust-jacket photo was probably taken in Oxfordshire
where Oliver Pike had recently made made a film about the
nightingale.
The first chapter describes how he has heard the
nightingale's song at its best when it is competing against
other noises. The first example given is during a storm, not
far from London. The second example is of a bird on the
Western front in the First World War, heard by the soldiers
and airmen, and blown up by a shell.