THE PIED GRALLINA, SONG THRUSH, AND BLACKBIRD. 331 



Possibly, if the bird were deprived of such materials, and only 

 furnished with mud and clay, it would be as much at a loss as 

 were the captive Israelites when they were compelled to make 

 bricks without being supplied with straw. 



Like the Oven Bird, the Pied Grallina makes no attempt to 

 conceal its nest, but places it quite conspicuously on a branch, as 

 is shown in the illustration. It is almost invariably built on a 

 bough which overhangs the water, and, in spite of its weight and 

 size, is fixed so firmly to the branch that there is no fear lest it 

 should overbalance itself. The walls of the nest are very thick 

 and solid, and the whole edifice looks very like an exceedingly 

 rude and ill-baked earthenware vessel — just such a one, indeed, 

 as Robinson Crusoe manufactured on his island. The bird is 

 widely spread over Australia, so that its nest may be found in 

 many parts of the country. 



I MAY here mention that two of our best-known song-birds 

 form a basin-like nest of somewhat similar materials. Every one 

 who has taken the nest of a Song Thrush ( Turdus musicus) will 

 remember that its interior is lined with a cup of a substance that 

 resembles clay, but which is, in fact, composed chiefly of cowdung 

 and decayed wood. This cup is exceedingly thin, but it is very 

 hard and tough, and is so compact in its structure that it will hold 

 water for some time. Like the mud wall of the Pied Grallina, it is 

 strengthened by sticks and grass, with this difference, that where- 

 as the latter bird incorporates the sticks and straws with the mud, 

 the Thrush works the cup upon the sticks and straws. 



The Blackbird {Turdus merula), too, has a similar habit, only 

 it employs veritable mud for the purpose, and spreads it in a 

 much thicker layer than the Thrush. The eggs, however, are 

 not placed on the dried mud, but on a layer of very fine grass. 

 The object of this curious lining seems to be still undiscovered. 

 Both the birds build in similar localities, and both make their 

 nests close to the ground. It is possible that the stout walls may 

 prevent the weasel or stoat from tearing the nest away from be- 

 low, and so catching the young birds, but this is mere conjecture. 

 Even the muddy lining does not repel all such attacks, for I once 

 knew a doa; that was in the habit of searching for nests of both 

 these birds, and of eating the eggs and the young. He always 

 obtained his prey by getting under the nest, biting out the bot- 

 tom, and receiving the contents in his mouth. 



