26 



Case 17 7. 



BLACKBIRD {Turdus memla). 



A resident species commonly distributed throughout the British 

 Islands. Snails, worms and insects as well as fruit of all kinds constitute 

 its food, and owing to its partiality for fruit, great numbers are 

 annually destroyed in gardens and orchards. The nest, generally 

 placed in bushes and hedgerows, is made of moss, lined with dry grass. 

 Four to six eggs are laid, usually greenish-blue spotted with reddish - 

 brown (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 1). Several broods are 

 reared in a season. 



Case 1 78. 



MISTLE-THRUSH {Turdus viscivorus). 



A resident species known as the " Stormcock " from its habit of 

 singing during the roughest weather, and found generally throughout 

 the British Islands. It feeds on fruits, worms, snails and insects, and 

 is especially partial to the berries of the yew, holly, mistletoe, etc., 

 from the last of which the trivial name is derived. The untidily- 

 finished nest is generally placed in the fork of a tree some distance from 

 the ground. Four to five eggs are laid, sometimes as early as February, 

 of which the ground colour is greenish or tawny white, blotched with 

 reddish-brown and lilac (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, draw^er 1). 

 Two broods are often reared in a season. 



Case 179. 



SONG-THRUSH {Turdus musicus). 



The " Throstle " or " Mavis " is a common resident throughout 

 the British Islands. The food consists of fruit, snails, worms and 

 insects. The familiar nest, lined with mud, is generally placed in a 

 thick bush, and the first clutch of eggs, from four to six in number, 

 is laid early in March. They are greenish-blue, usually blotched with 

 black or purplish-brown, but are sometimes unspotted (see British 

 Bird Egg Cabinet, drawer 1). Two or three broods are reared in a 

 season. 



Case 180. 



BARN OWL {Strix flammea). 

 Local names : Howlet, White Owl. 



Probably the best known of all the British Owls, and resident 

 throughout the year. It inhabits churches, barns, deserted ruins 

 and hollow trees, and the same haunts are frequented by the same 

 pair or their offspring for many years in succession. They feed on 



