14 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



green colour, which I transferred without a pang to my collection, 

 and which are frequently pointed at as " Starling's " when the 

 contents of my cabinet are on view to friends and acquaintances. 

 I believe it was Pope who wrote "A little knowledge is a danger- 

 ous thing," and I shall make bold to add, " especially where birds' 

 eggs are concerned." My ill-success in not meeting with more 

 specimens of this unspotted variety does not arise from slackness 

 or laziness, as I never pass a Blackbird's nest without inspecting 

 its contents. Boys who meditate purchasing the eggs of Field- 

 fares and King- Ousels will do well to be on their guard, as 

 they bear a strong family likeness to those of the species under 

 discussion. 



Blackbirds are somewhat prone to rearing a second brood in 

 the same nest, and I have known less than a week elapse between 

 the departure of the young and the laying of fresh eggs. In the 

 spring of 1883 a pair of these birds possessed themselves of a 

 vacated Mistle-Thrush's nest for their second brood, and brought 

 them off successfully. The earliest recorded date I have of an 

 egg is March 16th, 1885. 



Pied varieties are occasionally met with; my youngest brother 

 shot a lovely bird at Plumtree, near Nottingham, the black and 

 white feathers being most evenly apportioned. But, in this 

 connection, it was my own star that was destined to be in the 

 ascendant on Oct. 19th, 1893, on which date I was staying with 

 my friend Captain Quintin Dick at Hinton St. George, in 

 Somersetshire, he having taken Lord Poulett's extensive shoot- 

 ings thereabout on a lease. A strong contingent of us had just 

 commenced warfare on the Partridges in a large field of turnips, 

 when I espied a white bird skimming away over the tops of them 

 in front of the " gun " on my left, who happened to be my host. 

 I heard him say sharply to one of the keepers, " What the deuce 

 is that ? " ; and, though simultaneously I fairly screamed " Shoot, 

 shoot!" the bird was quickly out of range, and the responsive 

 "bang, bang," came too late to be effective. As luck would have 

 it, however, there were a brace of birds not picked when, we 

 reached the boundary hedge, for the turnips were of tremendous 

 growth, and, as some little delay appeared inevitable, Capt. Dick 

 very goodnaturedly let me go off in pursuit of this rara avis, an 

 under-keeper accompanying me, as apparently my only chance of 



