104 THE ORNITHOLOGIST. 



Thrush, although not quite so bulky, the exterior being con- 

 structed of small twigs and tassels of green tree-moss (Usnea), 

 while the lining is a neat cup of fine dry grasses. In almost 

 every case the nest is secured to the branches with a small 

 quantity of moist loam, while the usual intermediate wall of 

 the same is always present in the nest itself. The eggs appear 

 to be usually four in number, and are unspotted, of a uniform 

 and rather deep greenish-blue, measuring about 1'10 by "85 in. 



The " Robin " is the first to commence breeding among the 

 smaller species of Nova Scotian birds ; and as the period in 

 which it commences nest-building corresponds exactly with 

 that in which the Old World Blackbird and Mistle Thrush 

 commence, it may be readily imagined how much later the 

 spring commences in Nova Scotia, in spite of the fact that it is 

 five or six degrees farther to the southward than England. 



The male bird is 9 ins. in length, from the base of the bill 

 to the tip of the tail ; tail, 3'75 ; wing, 5'00. Head, nape, 

 ear-coverts and lores blackish, with a whitish stripe above 

 latter ; upper parts dusky-grey, deeper on the wing-coverts, 

 which are edged with ash-white ; wing-quills and tail feathers 

 nearly black, edged with ash-white, the tail-feathers being also 

 noticeably tipped with white ; cheeks white, with a broad 

 moustache-like streak of black ; chin and upper throat white, 

 spotted with black ; rest of under parts uniform light chestnut, 

 turning to white on the vent and under tail-coverts, the latter 

 having a narrow dusky shaft-streak to each feather ; bill yellow, 

 with a blackish tip ; iris brown ; tarsi brown. The female 

 scarcely differs, except in being slightly duller, and with more 

 white below. 



A note in the North British Agriculturist reports that much, damage has 

 been committed in turnip fields in Annandale during the past few days by 

 crows. The crows, in their search for wire-worms, pull up the young 

 turnips, probably finding a worm at the root of one out of 150 or 200 

 pulled up. 



