BIRDS 3 NESTS. 187 



tion is of small sticks, and the substance of 

 the nest is composed of fine roots with a 

 lining of grass. The eggs, usually five, are 

 an inch and a quarter long, of a greenish 

 tinge, copiously speckled with minute brown 

 specks, which often form a ring towards the 

 larger end. The egg is small in proportion to 

 the size of the bird. 



BLACKBIRD. Turdus Merula. 



PLATE XV. FIG. 2. 



THE Blackbird constructs its nest very early 

 in the season, selecting sometimes a fence of 

 dead brambles, sometimes a quickset hedge, 

 an ivy-clad ruin, an evergreen, or sometimes a 

 solitary bush so much exposed to the public 

 view that one would think the owner indiffe- 

 rent whether it escaped detection or not. As 

 the blackbird begins to sit long before genial 

 spring weather sets in, its eggs require more 

 than ordinary protection from the cold. This 



