THE BLACKBIRD. 241 



support it, the materials of the nest being artfully interwoven with them. 

 It is also found pretty frequently on the ground in the banks of wooded 

 ravines, amongst fern and hyacinths, and also in hedges. In all these 

 varied situations, however, the materials of the nest are the same ; and 

 often little or no attempt is made to conceal it. Curious sites, indeed, are 

 sometimes chosen. The Blackbird has been known to make its nest on a 

 stone projecting from a wall, with no other support whatever ; in another 

 instance under the eaves of a shed ; whilst a third was placed amongst the 

 roots of a large tree, far under a bank, in just such a situation as a Wren 

 would select for a nesting-site. The nest passes through three stages 

 before it is completed. It is composed, first, of coarse grasses, amongst 

 which a few twigs are sometimes woven, a little moss, and dry leaves. 

 This somewhat loosely built structure is lined with mud or clay, when 

 it is a difficult matter to distinguish it from an unfinished iiest of the 

 Song-Thrush. This mud-formed cavity is finally lined very thickly with 

 finer grasses., admirably arranged, and forming a smooth bed for the eggs. 

 When completed and dry, the nest of the Blackbird is very firm and com- 

 pact a proof of which may be seen in the number of their nests which 

 remain intact through the storms of winter, forming refuges and larders 

 for the field-mice. In form the Blackbird's nest is somewhat shallow, 

 and is usually a large, bulky structure. The eggs of the Blackbird are 

 from four to six in number, although this is in some few cases ex- 

 ceeded, for nests have been known to contain eight eggs. They differ 

 considerably in size, form, and colour : some specimens are exceptionally 

 large, others small; some are quite pear-shaped, others almost round. 

 The usual colour is a bright bluish green, spotted, streaked, clouded, 

 and blotched with rich reddish brown and various tints of purple. Some 

 specimens have most of the spots and streaks round the large end of the 

 egg in a zone or band ; others are finely blotched ; whilst some speci- 

 mens are so highly marked as to hide all trace of the ground-colour. 

 Varieties of the Blackbird's eggs are occasionally met with very similar to 

 the eggs of the Starling, pure and spotless. Apropos of these light- 

 coloured eggs, Dixon writes that "in Derbyshire, for three successive 

 years, a pair of Blackbirds built their nest in a spreading laurel, in exactly 

 the same situation yearly ; and each season their eggs were remarkable for 

 being pale blue aud spotless. This pair of birds produced during this 

 period some thirty eggs, all similar in colour, thus affording considerable 

 proof that the colour of birds' eggs is to a great extent hereditary. I 

 have known similar instances with the Starling, the Titmouse, and the 

 Robin, where ^br several seasons the eggs have possessed certain peculiar 

 characters. The eggs vary from 1*35 to 1 inch in length, and in 

 breadth from '9 to '79 inch. The Blackbird usually rears two, and 

 sometimes even three broods in a year, nests containing newly laid eggs 

 VOL. r. R 



