THE THRUSH. 53 



The female breeds very early in the sea- 

 son, almost as soon as the blackbird, and 

 has young ones by the end of March, or 

 beginning of April. It builds in woods or 

 orchards, and sometimes in thickset hedges, 

 near the ground. The outside of the nest 

 consists of fine soft green moss, interwoven 

 with dead grass, hay, &c. and the inside is 

 very curiously plastered with cow dung. In 

 this she differs from the blackbird, who al- 

 ways plasters her nest with clay, and puts a 

 soft lining in it, which the thrush does not, 

 but lays her eggs on the loose plaster, five 

 or six in number, of a pale greenish blue, 

 spotted with a few specks of black at the 

 larger end. The young birds may be taken 

 when twelve or fourteen days old, and if 

 the weather be very mild, rather sooner : 

 they are reared in the same way as the black- 

 bird, feeding them every two hours with a 

 paste made of raw lean meat, minced very 

 fine, and bread and hemp seed bruised, the 

 whole mixed together, and moistened with a 

 little water. Every feeding time the nest 

 should be cleansed from dirt, and when it 

 is become extremely foul, they must be taken 



