The Blackbird. 21 



according to the position of the nest ; this is constrncted of stalks of grass and 

 twigs intertwined and compacted with moss ; the inside of the cup plastered with 

 mud in pellets, almost or entirely concealed b}' dead leaves, rootlets and fine grass ; 

 occasionall}^ the mud plastering is entirely absent, but the onl}^ two nests having 

 this peculiarity which I have seen, I met with on the same morning ; one of these 

 I retained for my collection. 



The eggs are marvellously variable, both in size, shape, and colouring, ; they 

 number from four to six, but usually five. The following are some of the more 

 distinct varieties which I have taken: — i, Greenish blue, precisely like some eggs 

 of the Song-Thrush in tint ; but when examined through a lens, showing very 

 minute and indistinct reddish longitudinal dashes over the whole surface. 2, 

 Greyish olive, showing (under a lens) extremely fine dust-like brownish speckling, 

 a few black dots near the small end, this form somewhat reminds one of some 

 eggs of the Jay. 3. Large and broad, pale chalky blue, with indistinct rusty spots 

 and dots scattered sparsel}^ over the entire surface, the larger half sprinkled with 

 little rugosities. 4. Much elongated, pale blue, mottled all over with pale rusty 

 reddish. 5. Short and broad, greenish blue, mottled and blotched all over with 

 reddish-brown. 6. Very broad ; pale chalky blue, speckled sparsely all over, and 

 heavily blotched at both ends, with rust-reddish and greyish lavender. 7. Similar, 

 from same nest, but only heavily blotched at the larger end. 8. Pale sandy 

 brownish with very indistinct rust-reddish marbling all over : this is a small egg, 

 evidently laid by a young bird. 9. Pale greenish blue sparsely but boldly spotted 

 from the shoulder (or larger terminal third) and heavily spotted and clouded at 

 the larger end with rusty brown leopard-like markings. 10. Pale greenish, so 

 covered with indistinct reddish smears and speckles that the green is almost lost. 

 II. Deep blue-green, boldly spotted with rusty brown, which collects into a large 

 patch at the small end. 12. Flesh-whitish, densely speckled and marbled with 

 rust red. 13. I also have a chalk}^ white egg, with faint indications (visible 

 through a lens) of olivaceous mottling. This egg was given to me by a lady 

 friend and was obtained by her from an ordinary nest, at Wateringbury, near 

 Maidstone. Of the above (which I have selected for description from a picked 

 series of forty-four in my egg-collection) Nos. i, 2, 3, 8, 12, and 13 are all rare 

 varieties, not very characteristic of the species: possibly No. i, which is not 

 unlike a very deep-coloured Starling's egg, may, as Howard Saunders suggests, 

 be the result of a union between the Song-Thrush and Blackbird, the fact that 

 these two species do sometimes interbreed in a wild state being thoroughly well 

 established ; but if so, it would be laid by a hybrid hen, for it is not likely that 

 union with another species would affect the eggs laid by a pure-bred bird. 



