NOTES AND QUERIES. 233 



Supposed hybrid between Blackbird and Thrush. — During the 

 severe frost last winter a bird was caught in my garden which I at first 

 took by gaslight to be an old hen Blackbird ; but a more careful examination 

 by daylight convinced me that there was something odd about it. It had 

 the peculiar flattened crown which, together with a slight frontal depression, 

 gives a frog-like aspect to the Song Thrush and Redwing when viewed from the 

 front ; the throat also had an ashy-white appearance suggestive of the Ring 

 Ouzel. The bird, however, probably through inability to wash for several 

 weeks, was so grimy that it was not easy to come to any definite conclusion 

 as to its true colouring. On March 7th I showed the bird to my friend 

 Mr. Frohawk, who agreed with me that there was something very odd about 

 its appearance ; we therefore decided to give it a good wash, and thereby 

 ascertain its true colouring : this we did, and when thoroughly dry again we 

 found it in all respects intermediate between Blackbird and Song Thrush. 

 The following is a description, so far as it could be taken from a caged 

 bird : — Upper parts, including wings, tail, cheeks, ear-coverts, and neck, 

 deep smoky-brown ; a narrow pale brown superciliary streak from the base 

 of the upper mandible to behind the orbit, and a short moustachial streak 

 from the lower mandible; circle round eye yellow ; chin and throat ashy- 

 white, forming a large triangle with its apex on the chin ; sides of this 

 triangle washed with brownish buff, and the whole surface traversed longi- 

 tudinally by parallel irregular mottled dull black streaks, which pass into 

 indistinct spots on the fore-chest ; chest and breast rufous-brown, more 

 smoky at the sides ; abdomen and vent slightly greyish in the centre, 

 shading into smoky brown at the sides and gradually passing into the more 

 rufous tint of the breast. Bill orange, somewhat paler towards the tip ; 

 culmen blackish ; feet yellowish horn-brown ; iris hazel. Size about that 

 of a Blackbird. I have once or twice found eggs of the Song Thrush 

 deposited in the nest of the Blackbird ; but at the time I thought this 

 might have been done designedly by some naturalist trying an experiment 

 (for I have tried such an experiment myself) ; but Mr. Frohawk on one 

 occasion discovered a nest of this character which was undoubtedly visited 

 by both Blackbird and Thrush. The existence of hybrid Blackbird and 

 Song Thrush is tolerably well established ; but I believe most of the birds 

 supposed to represent this cross have been shot, not caught. It will be 

 interesting to discover whether the song of such a bird will partake of the 

 character of that of both parents. The alarm-note is a sharp "chuck," very 

 like that of the Blackbird. — Arthur G. Butler (Beckenham). 



Crossbills in Leicestershire. — On March 15th Mr. Turner, of Market 

 Harborough, received three specimens of the Common Crossbill, Loxia 

 curvirostra, a male and two females, which had been killed near that town. 

 The Crossbill occasionally remains in this country during the winter. In 



ZOOLOGIST, THIRD SERIES, VOL. XIX. JUNE, 1895. T 



