8 



leaves and bits of grass secured to the growing 

 reeds. The eggs, four or -five in number and an 

 inch and a half in length, are of a dull white. 



B L A C K B I E 1). 



TURDUS MERULA, Lin. 



This well-known bird, a native of the British 

 Islands, is so familiar to English readers that little 

 need be said of its haunts or habits. Never 

 associating with its fellows, but preferring a 

 solitary life, it frequents woods and thickets, and 

 being of a shy and restless disposition, and always 

 anxious to escape observation, it seeks the ever- 

 greens for concealment : out of which, when 

 alarmed, it darts with great celerity, its presence 

 being known only by the sharp cry it utters. Its 

 notes are rich, but destitute of that melody of 

 song which is so pleasing in the Common Thrush. 

 When kept in confinement however, which it 

 frequently is, it may be taught to whistle various 

 tunes, and to imitate the song of other birds, 

 and even the human voice. It usually builds its 

 nest in a thick bush or ivy- clad tree, and lays 

 four or five eggs of a bluish green hue, blotched 

 more or less with darker markings, but often 

 varying very much in colour. 



