106 Baby Birds at Home 



hammer it on her anvil, until the shell is 

 broken and she can extract and swallow the 

 fat creature inside. 



The nest of this species differs from that 

 of any other British bird. It is made of 

 twigs, dead grass stems, moss and clay and 

 is lined with mud, rotten wood or other 

 material that will dry quite hard. The in- 

 side of a well-furnished nest is almost as 

 firm and smooth as that of a wooden bowl. 



From four to six beautiful greenish blue 

 eggs are laid. These are generally spotted 

 with black, but occasionally specimens are 

 found without markings of any kind on them. 

 Young Thrushes eat a great quantity of food, 

 and when the weather is cold, and worms and 

 grubs do not care to come to the surface of 

 the ground, the old birds are compelled to 

 work very hard in order to find them their 

 meals. 



If you watch a nest containing a family 

 of fledglings from some place of concealment, 

 you will see the chicks standing one after 

 another on the edge of the structure, flapping 

 their little wings, as if to test their strength 

 before venturing to fly away. 



