CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 1 25 



Turkestan, breeding in localities that are suitable " 



(H.S.). 



The specimen in the case was shot at Glenbeigh, 

 CO. Kerry, in the winter of 1893. 



The Blackbird. 



This is one of our best known songsters; so liquid 

 are its notes and so varied its song that it is difficult 

 to say whether it or the Song-Thrush has the 

 greater merit ; both are much in request for the 

 cage. This species also possesses, in no small 

 degree, the power of mimicry. Its distribution over 

 our Islands is wide, being resident in England, 

 Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, and generally extend- 

 ing its range to the north and west. As in the 

 case of the Song -Thrush, the resident birds are 

 augmented by immigrants from the Continent in 

 late autumn. The Blackbird breeds early in March, 

 bringing up two to three broods. 



In regard to nesting, I append the following from 

 Howard Saunders' excellent book : " The usual 

 nesting-places selected by the Blackbird are bushes, 

 especially evergreens and hedgerows ; occasionally 

 the ground, but the nest differs from that of the 

 Thrush in being lined with dry grasses. The eggs — 

 four to six, are of a greenish-blue, spotted and 

 streaked with reddish-brown. The old birds are 

 much more shy during the breeding-season than the 

 Song-Thrush, but the cock at pairing-time is very 

 quarrelsome." 



