Our Letter 
Bjx. 
( 55 ) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Our Letter Box. 
To the Editor of the Bird World. 
A TAME THRUSH AND STRANGE 
NESTING PLACES. 
Sir,— I have read of many strange nesting 
places, but never had the opportunity of seeing 
any of these rarities till last week, when, as luck 
Would have it, I had my attention called to a few 
in our locality. Thinking that the details or 
these nests might be of interest to your many 
readers, I beg leave of you to try and describe 
what I have seen in reality. A pair of Song 
Thrushes built a nest on a narrow shelf which had 
been placed for flower pots in the porch of 
Laburnum Cottage, Belle Vue (west of Carlisle). 
The nest is within 18 inches of the door handle. 
This door is used daily, and, strange to say, 
nothing seems to disturb the bird on the nest, not 
even a photographer who took six photographs of 
the bird and nest, one of which was taken with 
the lenses about 14 inches from the bird, or the 
noisy milk girl, who, if not immediately attended 
to, bangs the tin down on the shelf within inches 
of' the nest, or the tenant, who can touch the 
straws of the nest. It’s the fearless manner in 
which this bird keeps her nest that makes it so 
interesting, She has, without leaving the nest, 
taken food from the hand of Mr. Richardson, 
the tenant, who has kindly supplied me with the 
following notes :—“ Towards the close of 1906, 
when we had a fall of snow, a Thrush paid us 
daily visits. Noticing its tameness, we threw out 
any scraps we had left from the table, and it re¬ 
mained . about our doors until March, when it 
disappeared. On April the 6th I again noticed it 
with its mate, when they began to build on the 
shelf in Hie porch at our entrance. The next day 
there was a fall of snow, but as it soon melted 
the birds became very industrious, and by night 
they were well on with the nest. I did not 
notice them on the 8th or 9th, but on the 10th 
of April the hen returned and laid the first 
of five eggs. On the 26th five young birds 
appeared. In the morning the male bird whistles 
on the gate which opens into the front garden, six 
Photo ] [J. S. Shackley. 
Thrush with Young. 
Photo] V S' Shackley . 
Nest of Thrush in an Old Coat. 
yards from the door, but in the evening he occu¬ 
pies a tree on the opposite side of the lane. I 
also noticed the male bird bringing food, the hen 
getting on to the side of the nest while he. feeds 
the young.” By the time this appears in print the 
young Thrushes will have gone forth to get their 
first lessons in the open fields far from the shelter 
of Laburnum Cottage, where I feel sure they will 
always have a kindly welcome whenever they wish 
to return. 
In the washhouse of Byrehill Farm, Corby 
Castle, a pair of Song Thrushes have built between 
two coats hanging side by side against the.wall, 
six feet from the ground. This wa>hhouse is not 
used much, but during the usual spring cleaning it 
was being cleared of rubbish, when, upon inspect¬ 
ing the old coats on the pegs in the wall, the bird 
flew off, and the nest was found to contain four 
eggs. The nest is dovetailed between the sleeves 
near the shoulder of a dust coat and a watei proof, 
but owing to the washhouse being used last week, 
I feel sure the birds have forsaken the nest, where 
no doubt they intended to rear a family “in the 
old clothes line.” While having a photo taken o f 
this nest, my attention was called to another 
Thrush who had taken up her quarters between 
the bars of an old heck taken from the salmon 
coops. This heck has the appearance of a gate, 
with bars about 2§ inches apart. It had been 
placed against the wall, and there the nest was 
built, two feet from the ground. 
A family have just removed into a house ad¬ 
joining us, but have scareely had time yet to get 
all their furniture properly placed in the house. 
They, however, had a plate rack such as is often 
seen above a dresser or kist in the kitchen of farm¬ 
houses. This plate rack had been left leaning 
against the wall in the back garden, and there a 
Song Thrush built on one of the shelves, and at 
present is to be .seen sitting on four eggs. The 
two latter nests are very exposed. 
Corbie. 
