344 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



which were five in number, two remain in the 

 nest, part of the others on the ground below the 

 nest, and part found in a walk some twenty yards 

 from it. 



"June 14. Blackbird's fourth nest begun in 

 a birch hedge. 



" June 23. Of the, five eggs laid in the fourth 

 nest only two remain ; another found on the 

 ground below it : it seems to have been pillaged 

 by some bird, in the same way as the third nest. 



66 June 26. Fifth and last nest of the blackbird 

 partially formed in a vine trained on the end of 

 a house. 



"July 18. Blackbirds in the fifth nest half- 

 grown : they left the nest on the 26th. 



" Thus a single pair of birds had twenty-five 

 eggs, and reared fourteen young in one season. 

 The gardens and shrubbery are so small in extent, 

 that had there been more than one pair about 

 them they would have been at once detected ; and 

 such were frequently looked for, but always in 

 vain. The dates of the different stages observed 

 also tend to show that one pair may have con- 

 structed and managed the whole of the nests with 

 their contents, eggs being never found in more 



