82 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
I willingly pardon the bird for such depredations, 
however, annoying as they are at the time, in con- 
sideration of the vast amount of insects, &c., which 
it destroys by way of compensation ; and I would as 
soon think of driving a blackbird from the garden as 
of turning out the tits themselves. 
Neither in building nor in concealing its nest is the 
blackbird an adept. Who does not know the untidy 
structure which, situated in a thick bush or a hedge, 
seems almost to invite the notice of the passer-by ? And 
who is not familiar with the loud, terrified squall with 
which the bird calls attention to the presence of her 
abode, when suddenly alarmed by a passing footstep ? 
In such respects, indeed, the bird seems utterly de- 
void of common sense, and one almost marvels that, 
with all its efforts to attract attention while engaged 
in family duties, it should still be so plentiful as it is. 
The- nest itself, in spite of its loosely-built ap- 
pearance, is a tolerably firm and compact edifice, 
owing chiefly to a coating of mud with which the 
interior is lined. Within this mud coating is a layer 
of grass, and upon this the eggs are laid. These are 
generally five in number, and are too well known to 
require description. 
Upon one occasion I found a nest built apparently 
by a blackbird of an economical turn of mind, for it 
was semi-circular, like that of a martin, and was fas- 
tened against a fence, which did duty for the re- 
mainder of the circumference. 
THE THRUSH, equally plentiful and still more useful, 
