BLACKBIRD 15 



Birds of Bainham, says the "Blackbird frequents our 

 gardens all the year round." In the districts of Higham 

 and Mailing valley the Kev. C. H. Fielding states it is 

 resident. In the Birds of East Kent Mr. G. Dowker 

 places it among the " common residents," and gives also 

 the following references to localities : Nonington, W. 0. 

 Hammond ; Dover, C. Gordon ; Elmstone, Kev. W. 

 Baldock Delmar ; Walmer, Eev. B. Austen ; Folkestone, 

 H. Ullyet ; Dover, Plomley Collection. 



Mr. W. 0. Hammond, of Wingham, gives instances of 

 birds flying against window-panes, and includes the Black- 

 bird and Thrush. Many of these birds are killed by the 

 force with which they come in contact with the glass. 



In the Zoologist, 1895, Mr. A. G. Butler, of Beckenham, 

 mentions a " supposed hybrid between the Blackbird and 

 Thrush caught in his garden." We have not observed a 

 specimen of this kind yet. 



The nests of the Blackbird are abundant enough in 

 the spring and early summer, and they are placed in the 

 most exposed places. On April 6, in the bottom of Burnt 

 Oak Wood, near Orlestone, Kent, a nest was found on 

 the ground with three eggs, under a small bramble. 

 Some nests are 4 or 5 feet from the ground, but generally 

 about 3 feet. Mr. T. Hepburn, in his notes on the birds 

 of the beach at Dungeness, says : " This bird was also 

 nesting in the patches of bushes on the beach." Black- 

 birds are very often pied in various ways and sometimes 

 are pure white. Lord Clifton records a case in which 

 a " brood of white Blackbirds, four or five in number, 

 was found at Cobham, Kent, besides many pied 

 varieties." A white one was seen on September 15, at 

 Bromley Green, near Ashford. At Dover a Blackbird's 

 nest with two eggs was found on February 5, 1906. 



