BLACKBIRD 



PLATE CHI. 



Turdus merufa LINNAEUS. 



Merula vulgaris, . SELBY. GOULD. 



THIS species pairs in February or March, but occasion- 

 ally much earlier. A nest with eggs has been found 

 in January. 



The nest is placed in a variety of situations, and is 

 frequently found in a heap of sticks, even though placed in 

 an outhouse, or most commonly in a bush ; sometimes in a 

 tree against a wall, or in a tree or wall covered with ivy ; 

 an instance has been known of its being placed on the stump 

 of a tree, close to the ground, and Sir William Jardine 

 found one on the ground, at the foot of a tree ; another was 

 also seen in a similar situation, at the foot of a hazel bush, 

 in a wood, by the Rev. W. Waldo Cooper, of West Rasen, 

 Lincolnshire : in the same wood he saw another on the 

 stump of a hazel which had been cut down, and from which 

 several stems had grown ; it was not raised an inch from the 

 ground, but was quite surrounded by the new branches ; and 

 others on the ground have been recorded. It is often put 

 in a hedge, at a height of three or four feet ; and some- 

 times in a hole in a wall or rock. It is made of roots, 

 VOL. n. 49 G 



