THE BLACKBIRD 121 



very persistent singer, and will sit for long periods 

 warbling at intervals without once quitting his perch. 

 He occasionally breaks into song as he flies. He 

 is also a very early songster and repeatedly warbles 

 well into the dusk of evening. The Blackbird's 

 melody is at its best during April. 



This Thrush pairs early in the season. Its nest 

 is placed in a great variety of situations, either on 

 the ground, a few feet, or as many as forty feet above 

 it. The favourite situation is the centre of a dense 

 bush, especially an evergreen, and a yew or a holly 

 by preference. Thick hedges, banks, or in the 

 bottom of a hedgerow, or in ivy either on walls or 

 trees are also common sites. The nest is bulky and 

 generally very firmly put together, being composed 

 externally of dry grass, moss and dead leaves, with 

 often a few twigs round the sides ; lined in the first 

 place with mud and then with fine dry grass. The 

 eggs are from four to six in number. In exceptional 

 cases we have found as many as eight. They vary 

 from palest blue to bright bluish-green, in ground- 

 colour blotched, spotted and freckled with varying 

 shades of reddish-brown and grey. The amount 

 of colouring varies considerably ; on some eggs it 

 almost if not entirely conceals the ground-colour, 

 on others it is broken up into blotches and spots. 

 Both birds assist in the duty of incubation. If dis- 

 turbed, the parents sometimes fly away with a noisy 

 chatter, but are not nearly so demonstrative as 



