'2f> THK BIRDS OF TERRICK HOUSE. 



they arc siini^ly marching forth to regale themselves without acknowledge- 

 ment, upon the fruit and vegetables he has been at some pains and consider- 

 able expense to provide for them ; and in the banishment of the bird in 

 question, he has done what in him lay to secure to them the free and unin- 

 teiTupted enjoyment of the feast. 



These grounds, limited as they are in extent, annually send forth some 

 fifteen or twenty broods of yoUng Blackbirds, and a still greater number of 

 Song Thrushes; and yet the fruit crops, instead of suffering any real dimi- 

 nution at their hands, (pardon the expression,) are, I am fully convinced, far 

 more abundant than they would have been had these birds not been per- 

 mitted to live. By the adoption of various simple devices, you may succeed 

 in preventing them from making any serious havoc among your fruit, while 

 no device or known precautionary measures will at all avail against the 

 i-avages of snails and other creatures, which the Thrush tribe is in an especial 

 manner appointed to keep within proper bounds. Spare then, Oh ! spare 

 the Blackbird : he will amply repay you, even in a pecuniary point of view, 

 for the trifling quantity of fruit he may consume ; for be assured, that for 

 every strawberry he eats he will be the means of saving you ten, or it may 

 be, a far greater proportion still. 



At our feet the ground is found to be strewn with tree mosses and other 

 nest-building materials. Above us we perceive divers pieces of wool dangling 

 from the forked branch of a beech ; and on ascending to it we find, as we 

 had anticipated, the nest of the Missel Thrush. (Turdus viscivorus.) This 

 nest is outwardly composed of tree moss, wool, and a few small sticks, with 

 the addition of some kind of cement; the lining consists, as I invariably 

 find to be the case, of fine grasses ; the eggs, usually five in number, are 

 generally sufficiently distinct in character to be easily recognised, but I have 

 some which it would be impossible to distinguish from a variety of the 

 Blackbird's. 



This bird is an early breeder ; in ordinary seasons it begins breeding by 

 the middle of March, and in very forward ones much earlier. I have found 

 the nest in February; occasionally, however, it is not found till the middle 

 of April. This is more particularly found to be the case after a long and 

 severe winter, which causes most of our indigenous birds to become so out 

 of condition, and so greatly reduces their strength, as to render them 

 unequal to the task of nidification, and its attendant duties, at the usual 

 period. The nest is to be found in orchards, gardens, and other frequented 

 places, as well as in the lonely and unfrequented wood. I have found it 

 within three feet of the ground, and I have often seen it as high as twenty, 

 or even thirty ; so far from the bird making any attempt at concealment, it 

 not only, as a general rule, chooses the most conspicuous and exposed situ- 

 ations, but also, as noticed at the beginning of this article, is in the habit of 

 strewing the nest-building materials about in such a manner as to draw the 



