Nesting Notes on the Blackbird.



257



night it was, a sound of breaking glass—suggesting burglars —

caused me to investigate, with the result that I found the floor of

a conservatory strewn with broken glass and pieces of dried mud.

A nest built under the eaves of the house had become detached

from the wall and had fallen through the glass roof of a con¬

servatory ; but no young birds were to be found in the debris.


The first thing to do was to find the birds and, with the

aid of a lantern, I discovered them uninjured in one of the valleys

of the conservatory roof. No doubt they had fluttered when the

nest dropped from under them and had thus escaped damage.


The four youngsters, fledged and ready to fly, were placed

in a cage with the door shut on a window-sill below the site of

the nest, in the expectation that the old bird would feed them as

soon as day broke. The expectation was duly justified. Later

on the door of the cage was opened to facilitate feeding opera¬

tions, which were somewhat difficult through the wire-front.

The old bird, however, soon discovered the open door, perched

for a moment in the doorway and then launched itself into the

air with outspread wings towards a fir-tree some thirty feet away.

Having demonstrated the ease of flight it returned to the cage

and persuaded the fledglings one by one to fly from the cage to

the tree, accompanying each on its journey until all were safely

perched in the tree. Within an hour these birds were all fully on

the wing and flying round as though they had never done any¬

thing else in their lives.


Considering the inaccessible positions in which Swallows’

nests are generally placed, I have often wondered if the young

are always schoolmastered in their first flight.



NESTING NOTES ON THE BLACKBIRD.


By Miss E. E. West.


I do not know if a few notes about the nesting of a Pied

hen Blackbird and black mate will have any interest for our

members, but send them to you on the chance.


I am sorry I kept no notes about it at the time, so am not

sure about dates. At the end of April, last year, I found my Pied

hen (of whom I sent a note to the Avicnltural Magazine about



