WHITE'S THRUSH. 209 



clump when it is placed on the edge of a moorland beck ; the 

 birds, however, by their anxiety reveal its presence. At other 

 times it is absurdly visible, on a bank, ledge or in a hollow in 

 a stone wall. It has the same mud cup and grass lining as the 

 Blackbird's, and the outer materials are bracken, moss, wool 

 and stems of heather, but the majority of those on the Pennines 

 and Peak are built of stiff, wiiy moorland grass. When this is 

 the case it almost invariably differs from the nest of the Black- 

 bird, for the ends of the grasses are left sticking out at an angle, 

 as shown in the photograph (Plate 86) and are not twisted in. 

 The eggs (Plate 79) are usually laid late in April or in May ; 

 four is the ordinary number, though live or six maybe found. 

 They are similar to one type of the Blackbird, boldly blotched 

 with reddish brown on a blue-green ground. The male has 

 been seen to help in building, but his chief duties are those of 

 sentinel and guard. 



In summer the male is sooty black with pale edgings to the 

 secondaries and with a broad white gorget ; his bill and eye- 

 rims are yellow, the former darker at the tip. The legs and 

 irides are dark brown. The female is browner and her 

 narrower breast band is tinged with brown. After the autumn 

 moult the feathers of the breast are fringed with grey and the 

 bill is brownish yellow ; these tips and edgings wear off during 

 winter. At first the young are more or less mottled ; they have 

 pale margins and central streaks to the feathers of the back, 

 and the under parts are barred with black, brown and white. 

 After the first moult most of these mottlings are lost but the 

 bird retains a much greyer appearance. Length, 10 ins. 

 Wing, 5'4 ins. Tarsus, r3 ins. 



White's Thrush. Turdus aureus Holandre. 



This large and strikingly marked bird is a summer visitor to 

 eastern Siberia and Japan and winters in China. It has 

 Series I, p 



