Their Eggs and Nests, ^$ 



his persevering song, begun at day-dawn in early 

 February, and persevered in for months of the spring 

 and early summer. Every one knows its trim, neatly- 

 plastered nest, with its warm, solid coating of grass 

 and bents and roots and such like materials. And 

 every body, too, knows the four or five fair blue eggs 

 with their tidy black spots, whicli now and then, how- 

 ever, can hardly be seen at all. Every body also 

 knows how fussy the old mother Thrusli is the day 

 her brood quit their nest ; and how, if you catch one 

 of her awkward, ill-flying, soon-tired squad of young 

 ones, she will follov/ 3'ou with much objurgation and 

 no little plaintive entreaty that " a great fellow like 

 you, who ought to be ashamed of yourself for frighten- 

 ing a poor little fluttering creature like that, will put 

 it down again soon, and not hurt it, and be a dear, 

 good man, — now do, won't you ? " I have met with its 

 nest twice within the last three years built in among 

 the unmortared stones of the ordinary " dry-stone 

 walls" of this country. — Fig. \0, plate II. 



REDWING— (r//;v/?^.y iliacus). 



Like the Fieldfare, frequent in winter ; but breeds 

 in another country. 



FIELDFARE— ( Turdus pilaris). 



Felfit, Felty-fare, Blue-back, Jack-bird. — A very 

 common winter visitor, and staying sometimes as 

 late as 20th May. But they do not breed with us ; 

 and as space is not too abundant, any notice which 

 can be aflforded of this bird's nesting habits must be 

 put in the Appendix, if found possible. 



