BRITAIN^S BIRDS AND THEIR NESTS. 311 



the subject has been greatly neglected, or normal nests 

 have been studied merely as examples of workmanship, 

 and abnormal ones regarded as ' curious "" freaks. 



The four or five eggs of the Mistle-Thrush have 

 lilac and reddish - brown markings on a yellowish - white 

 or grayish-white ground. In the south of England the 

 bird is double-brooded, but is only single-brooded farther 

 north. This is another subject worthy of much more 

 attention than it has received. 



The parent Mistle-Thrushes, among other birds, often 

 swallow the excreta of their young. The excreta of most 

 nidicolous nestlings are enclosed in jelly-like capsules, 

 which enables the parents to lift them cleanly and bodily 

 from the nest. Very frequently they are merely carried 

 away and dropped, and the reason for the apparently 

 useless swallowing habit has not been explained. 



[The Redwing and Fieldfare, two northern Thrushes, 

 are common winter visitors to our area. It has fre- 

 quently been reported that these birds have remained 

 to nest, but as yet there are no records that can be 

 accepted as reliable.] 



THE BLACKBIRD 



(Turdus merula). 



Plate 114. 



The Blackbird is of course Shakespeare's ' Ousel-Cock 

 so black of hue, with orange-tawny bill ' ; but the name 

 ' Ousel ' has now dropped out of use as regards this 

 species, although in Germany the cognate ' Amsel ' is still 

 the ordinary name. ' Ousel,' however, survives as part of 

 the name of the next species, and of that of the Dipper, 

 as we have seen. 



