168 INSESSORES. iMERULA. Blackbird. 



ivy-clad tree, is usually the chosen situation. The nest is 

 composed of moss, small sticks, and fibres of root, plastered 

 with mud internally, and afterwards lined with fine dry grass. 

 Here it deposits four or five eggs, of a bluish-green colour, 

 blotched with darker variegations. Like the Thrush, it is 

 frequently kept in confinement, and may be taught to whistle 

 a variety of tunes, as well as to imitate the human voice. 



Plate 45. Fig. 4. Male bird, of the natural size. 

 General Bill and orbits of the eyes king's-yellow. The whole of 

 tion. " the plumage black. Legs blackish-brown, varied with 



Male bird. wood-brown. 



Plate 43. Fig. 2. Natural size. 

 Female. The female bird is of a brownish-black. Throat white, 



spotted with blackish-brown. Lower part of the neck 

 and breast pale umber-brown, the margins of the fea- 

 thers passing into greyish- white. Bill and legs blackish- 

 brown. Belly and inner tail-coverts greyish-black. 

 The young are similar to the females ; and the male birds 

 do not acquire the perfect yellow bill till after the se- 

 cond moult. 



Varieties of a pure white, and of an ash-grey colour, with 

 livid bill, and reddish irides, are sometimes met with. 



