105 



15 



especially at the mouth. The diameter within is four inches, the depth two and a half. In 

 another, the mud cup is formed of fine light-brown earth, mixed with Jiypna, the inner cup of 

 fine grasses and decayed holly leaves. Its dimensions are the same. The eggs are generally five, 

 or from four to six, pale bluish green, freckled with pale umber, the markings closer towards 

 the larger end, where they sometimes form an obscure ring. They differ in form from very 

 broad to elongated oval, the longest being about an inch and two twelfths by ten twelfths, the 

 shortest an inch and half a twelfth by ten twelfths and a quarter. Generally, however, they are 

 of a much longer form than those of the Song-Thrush. Two broods are commonly reared, the 

 first being abroad towards the end of May, the second by the middle of July. It appears, 

 however, that sometimes a greater number of broods is reared. Mr. Blyth states in the 

 ' Naturalist,' vol. iii. p. 152, that a pair built four successive nests in 1837 upon the island 

 in St. James's Park, and succeeded in rearing seventeen young ones, the first three broods 

 consisting of five each, the last of two only ; and that another pair which he knew of raised 

 three broods in a garden near his residence. 



" Mr. Weir has furnished me with an account of a series of observations having reference to 

 the feeding of young birds while yet unfledged. Those which refer to the present species are 

 here given : — 



" ' On Saturday morning the 10th of June 1837, at half-past two o'clock, I went into a house 

 made of the branches of trees to watch the Blackbirds whilst they were feeding their brood. It 

 was within nine feet of their nest, which was built in the hole of an old wall. It is a situation for 

 which they and the Thrushes seem to have had a strong predilection ; for it has been occupied by 

 one or other of them for a number of years successively. The morning was so cold, with a heavy 

 rain and a strong breeze from the east, that I was obliged to wrap myself up in a warm cloak and 

 a mackintosh waterproof. 



"'At a quarter past three o'clock in the morning they began to feed their young, which 

 were four in number. From that time until four o'clock the male fed them only once, and sang 

 almost incessantly, whilst the female fed them six times. From four to five o'clock the male fed 

 them six, and the female three times ; from five to six o'clock the male fed them four, and the 

 female five times ; from six to seven o'clock the male fed them three, and the female five times ; 

 and from seven to eight o'clock the male fed them three times. For the last four hours he sang 

 most delightfully, except when he was feeding his tender offspring. As he had induced one of 

 them to fly out after him, I Avas under the necessity of fixing it into its nest, and this caused 

 some interruption to their feeding. From eight to nine o'clock the male fed them six, and the 

 female seven times; and from nine to ten o'clock the male fed them four, and the female three 

 times. In keeping both the inside and outside of their nest clean they are very particular. A 

 dropping of one of the young birds having fallen to the ground, the male immediately carried it 

 off to some distance, in order, no doubt, to prevent suspicion. From ten to eleven o'clock the 

 male fed them three, and the female two times ; from eleven to twelve o'clock the male fed them 

 two, and the female three times ; from twelve to one o'clock the male fed them two, and the 

 female four times ; and from one to two o'clock the male fed them twice, and the female thrice. 



" ' Although the hut in which I sat was very closely covered, a Wren having alighted on the 

 ground in pursuit of a fly, no sooner observed one of my legs in motion, than it set up a cry of 



