BLACKBIRD. 
207 
and reared fourteen young in one season; and he adds that 
the garden and the shrubbery were so small in extent) that 
had there been more than one pair, they would have at once 
been detected; and that such were frequently looked for, but 
in vain; as also that the dates of the different stages observed, 
tend to shew that one pair may have constructed and managed 
the whole nests with their contents: eggs being never found 
in more than one nest at the same time, unless when one 
had been forsaken. 
The following, if possible still more singular circumstance, 
is related in the same magazine, page 352, by Mr. M. Saul, 
of Garstang, Lancashire:—‘Last year a male Blackbird resided 
in my orchard, and, as it appeared, failed in finding a mate. 
As early as February he began building a nest under some 
long leaves by the side of a fenny place in the orchard, 
having first scratched away a little earth, in order to make 
a level place for the nest to stand on. When the nest was 
finished, it was completely concealed from the sight and 
protected from rain, by the long leaves bending over it; so 
close was one of the leaves, that the bird had to lift it up 
every time he went in or out—a feat I frequently watched 
him perform. About two weeks after this nest was completely 
finished, the same bird built a second in another part of the 
orchard; and in this second nest I often saw him sitting later 
in the season; and when the leaves were on the trees he 
built a nest in a thorn bush. During the time he was 
engaged with these three nests, he would frequently perch on 
one of the highest trees in the orchard, and send forth his 
rich and melodious song, as if to invite a partner to join in 
his family cares, but always without success.’ 
Mr. Weir, the valuable correspondent of Mr. Macgillivray, 
relates a curious instance of a male Blackbird and a female 
Thrush, which being fed together about the conclusion of 
the winter of the year 1836, within a short distance of the 
house of Mr. Russell, of Moss-side, m Scotland, kept company 
with each other in the spring, and eventually hatched four 
young ones. J. R. Wise, Esq., of Lincoln College, Oxford, has 
forwarded to me a specimen of an hybrid egg of a like origin. 
Mr. Allis, in his ‘Catalogue of the Birds of Yorkshire,’ 
mentions a similar instance in the case of a pair in con¬ 
finement. 
The Blackbird is neat in form, and its plumage compact. 
Male; weight, about four ounces; length, ten inches and three 
