Birds. 493 



live minutes without cessation, on one tree, then flew to the top of a tall poplar, and 

 sang for about five minutes and a half, quitted that station and commenced singing a 

 little further away from me, ceased again in about two minutes and a half, then re- 

 mained silent for about two minutes, after which it recommenced its song near the 

 house again. On the day before this I heard one sing for fully ten minutes without 

 a pause, but this is a longer continuance than ordinary, the general duration of the 

 song being from two to five minutes at a time. The song of the missel-thrush has 

 always appeared to me to be a mixture of those of the blackbird and thrush, but of a 

 wilder nature than either. The bird itself is very wild and shy, and even while sing- 

 ing is easily alarmed, and frequently changes its station. The missel-thrush often 

 sings here during the winter months in fresh weather. During the fine weather which 

 prevailed in the beginning of last month (December), it was frequently heard ; indeed 

 it seems to discontinue its song altogether after February or March. — Archibald Jer- 

 don ; Bonjedward, January 20, 1844. 



Note on the Song Thrush. Our thrushes all leave this neighbourhood in the depth 

 of winter, generally about the end of November, and are not seen again till their me- 

 lodious voices are heard leading the vernal chorus in early spring. What becomes of 

 them in the intermediate period ? Do they resort to the sea-coast, or do they migrate 

 southward to the more genial climate of the South of England ? Perhaps some of 

 the readers of ' The Zoologist' may be able to furnish a satisfactory answer to the 

 question. — Id. 



Note on the Nest and Eggs of the Blackbird. Several blackbirds haunt our garden 

 the winter through, and it is pleasant to see them fare so bounteously on the coral ber- 

 ries of the holly, or sharing a handful of crumbs of bread or oats, with other little 

 birds. As spring advances, they gradually withdraw to the woods and hedges, and sel- 

 dom more than one pair remain to breed with us; and the male with his sweet songs 

 charms the hearts of those who cherished his race in the wintry storms. Before the 

 middle of May, 1841, my pair had led forth a young brood, and shortly afterwards 

 commenced another nest on the branch of a wall apple-tree, filling up the interval be- 

 tween the wall and the branch with straws and hay, weaving the other end into the 

 general structure of the nest, which was the first I ever heard of or saw in such a situ- 

 ation ; when about half finished it was abandoned, and another was completed in au 

 adjoining wall-tree, on the 25th of the same month ; and in clue season four eggs were 

 deposited. On the 7th of June I observed that that nest was forsaken, and on taking 

 it down I was lost in wonder to behold that two of the eggs which were slightly chip- 

 ped showed another and entire shell below, of the usual colour of such eggs, whereas the 

 exterior shell was much paler, though similarly marked. The curious eggs of the 

 chanter and the double-shelled eggs of the blackbird, are now deposited in the cabinet 

 of Prof. Macgillivray of Aberdeen, and I also intend to present him with the nests. — 

 Archibald Hepburn. 



Note on the Nest and Egg of a Hedge-chanter. During the happy season when our 

 little birds are occupied with domestic employments, I am in the habit of directing my 

 chief attention to a pair or two of those species which haunt our garden and the fields 

 and hedge-rows of the farm; and the results attendant upon this method of out-door 

 study, have been to me much more interesting than those generally derived from ram- 

 bling over a large district. In the month of March, 1841, I noted the courtship of a 

 pair of chanters; the joyous and oft-repeated songs of the male, his low gratulatory 

 whisperings and odd gesticulations; the coyness of the female; and how, after much 



