Birds by Land and Sea 



intruder, rigidly attentive, until he be within a foot 

 of the nest, the blackbird starts out in rushing flight 

 with vehement cry long before one suspects its 

 presence. From one cause or another the boys of 

 the countryside levy a heavy toll upon the first 

 brood of eggs of both species, and only the fact that 

 in breeding matters these birds follow the rule of 

 " early and often " enables them to maintain their 

 numbers against such wholesale spoliation. 



Approaching Bowdon on the I2th April, we 

 found the nest of a blackbird built about a foot 

 from the ground, where a low hawthorn adjoined 

 the trunk of an old beech. This nest was but 

 half a nest, built against the bole of the tree, and 

 without any lining where the surface of the trunk 

 exactly bisected what would have been the circle 

 of a normal nest. Here there seemed to be a 

 departure from the uniform work of instinct, and 

 one looked for some evidence of an attempt to 

 adapt the abnormal structure to its surround- 

 ings. But, in truth, the work was instinctive to 

 the point of stupidity. The nest was just half of 

 a blackbird's ordinary nest, with no attempt to 

 increase its proportions to make up for the missing 

 half. No blackbird could possibly have got into it, 

 and had the bird persisted in laying her eggs there, 

 strange contortions must have resulted ere she could 

 make ends meet. Shortly afterwards we found the 

 nest destroyed. 



An instance of similar fatuity on the part of a 

 118 



