THE PERCHING BIRDS. 135 



recorded twice (1868, 1889) only. The belly is of a 

 spotless white. 



White's Thrush. Another rare straggler from northern 

 Asia to most of our southern and eastern counties. 



American Robin. This is the migratory thrush of North 

 America. Its occurrence in these islands is considered by 

 many to rest on insufficient evidence. 



Siberian Thrush. Another doubtful visitor. 



The Blackbird is one of the handsomest and sweetest of 

 our song-birds. The body and legs of the male are of 



greyish black, his bill bright orange, I 



Blackbird. , . , , -^ ... , 



recently saw a cinnamon - coloured .British 



blackbird at the Zoological Gardens, and believe this to 

 be a not very rare variety. The female is dark brown, 

 bill and all. The note varies in quality, being most 

 mellow in the spring. Of wide distribution throughout 

 these islands, in several districts of which it is yearly ex- 

 tending its range, the bird, although resident, undertakes 

 considerable inland migrations, like those of the mistle- 

 thrush. It feeds on worms, snails, seeds, fruit, and haw- 

 thorn berries; and it drinks regularly. This spring, I 

 observed a blackbird constantly drinking from the gutter 

 beneath the eaves of a house, a trick which I believe it 

 caught from a pair of jackdaws that had their nest there. 

 The shallow nest is ready by the end of March. It is lined 

 with grass, and almost invariably placed in a hedge 3 or 4 

 feet from the ground. Eggs, 5 or 6, about i inch ; pale 

 green, with reddish spots, either at the larger end only or 

 over the whole surface. This bird rears a third, or even a 

 fourth, brood. It is also known to interbreed with the 

 thrush ; and I took two blue, unspotted eggs from a nest 

 at Bexley (1886) that were, I believe, the product of this 

 union, though I only saw the hen, a blackbird. These 

 birds sit very close, and, when the intruder is upon them, 

 fly silently from the nest. 



A bird of the moors, the Ring-Ousel arrives from the 



