BLACKBIRD. 
27 
bank that it could only be detected when the bird had flown 
off, by the form of the circular orifice ; the rim or border of 
the nest not rising above the surrounding surface of the 
bank. 
Five is the usual number of the Blackbird’s eggs, and the 
colour is pale greenish-blue, speckled with reddish-brown. In 
preserved specimens the blue colour soon fades to dirty 
white. 
This species is common throughout the greater part of 
Europe and Asia, extending as far northward as Norway, 
and as far southward as Syria. In Germany it remains all 
the year, contrary to the song and other thrushes, which 
migrate there in winter. 
The Blackbird is about ten inches in length : the wings 
measure nearly five inches from the carpus to the tip, beyond 
which the tail extends about two inches and a half. 
The entire plumage of the adult male is shining black. 
The eyelids are bright red-lead ; the beak is of a similar 
colour, shading off to gamboge at the tip: in winter the beak 
and eyelids are paler and more yellow. The legs and toes 
are brown ; the claws dusky. 
The hen Blackbird has no resemblance in colour to the 
male; the feathers of all the upper parts are olivaceous 
dusky, darkest on the rump and tail, palest on the forehead 
and sides of the neck. The outer webs of the quill and 
tail-feathers are edged with cinereous brown ; the cheeks are 
dark-brown, with lighter streaks along the shafts. The chin 
is greyish-white, passing into brownish-rust colour on the 
upper part of the breast: the under parts of the body are 
dark cinereous ; all the feathers from the chin to the vent are 
darkest in the centre, forming dusky spots upon the plumage. 
The beak is dark-brown, with yellowish-brown edges, and the 
eyelids yellow. 
The young nestlings of this species are dusky-brown. 
