60 i i n u ' s n ,
bumnolme Rector} we found one in a y ew tree at a height of twelve
feet from the ground. One has been known to be placed on a rail,
and one on the shaft of a thrashing machine: they are not unfrcquently
found in a shed or open tool-house. These birds arc sometimes very
expeditious in erecting their nests.—'Thus,'says Mr. Macgillivray, 'on
Thursday morning, the 10th. of June, 1837, a pair began to build in
an apple-tree in my garden. On Friday afternoon the nest was finished,
and on Saturday morning, the 17th., the firs.t egg was laid in it,
although the plaster in the inside was very wet. On Wednesday, the
21st., the female began to sit on five eggs, and on Monday, the 17th.
of July, the young ones flew out of their nest.' He also quotes the
following from a communication made to him by Mr. Weir:—'Wishing
to know how soon Thrushes would build after having been deprived
of their young, I took four young ones out of a nest, on Tuesday,
the 6th. of June, 1837. Having caught the female, I pulled the feathers
out of her tail, and set her at liberty. On Wednesday, the 21st. of
J u n e , 1 discovered her sitting upon four eggs, of which I deprived
her, and on Monday, the 8th. of July, she again had a nest with
eggs. I allowed her to bring up her family unmolested.' The Thrush
has reared three young ones hi the aviary of Mr. Thomas Walker,
of Kosehank, near Tunbridge Wells.
The late amiable Dr. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, whom I have so
frequently had the pleasure of quoting from, gives the following account
as an instance of the confidence which the Thrush, if undisturbed,
will exhibit in building its own habitation close to that of man:—A
short lime ago, in Scotland, some carpenters working in a shed adjacent
to a house, observed one of these birds flying in and out, which
induced them to direct their attention to the cause, when, to their
surprise, they found a nest commenced among the teeth of a harrow,
which, with some other farming-tools and implements, were placed
upon the joists of the shed just over their heads. The carpenters had
arrived soon after six o'clock; and at seven, when they found the
nest, it was in a state of great forwardness, and had evidently been
the morning's work of a pair of these indefatigable birds. Their
activity throughout the day was incessant, and when the workmen left
off* in the evening, and came again in the morning, they found the
female seated on her half-finished mansion; and, when she flew off for
a short time, it was discovered that she had already laid an egg,
though the bottom of the nest was the only part plastered and completed.
When all was finished, the male bird took his share in the
hatching, and though he did not sit so long, he was very attentive in
feeding her when on the nest: the young were hatched in thirteen
davs. As thi'y grew, and required greater supplies, the entrance and
retreat of the old ones through the door was so rapid that it could
scarcely be seen, but was only known by the sound as they darted
over the heads of the men—another proof of the rapidity of flight of
even the slower flying birds, when urged by necessity. A pair of
Thrushes built in a porch over the kitchen-door of Thorpe Lea House,
near-Eghim, Surrey, the scat of Colonel Stapleton, and the hen bird
sat close in the prcscucc of close passers-by.
Very early in the spring odd eggs are sometimes found here and
there, and one has been known placed on a branch of a tree1 supported
only by a very small portion of moss. It frequently is the case that
the nest is very conspicuous for a time, from being placed among the
branches of some deciduous shrub, whose anticipated leaves have
either been too soon calculated on by the bird, or have been kept
back by some fortuitous change of weather. It is very light in
weight, and it is curious how it, and the same applies to the nests
of rither birds, retains its place when even the strongest trees arc
overthrown by some tremendous gale.
Mr. John H. Illundell, of Luton, Bedfordshire, informs me that he
has found the nest of a Thrush in the side of a round wheat stack.
The Rev. W. Waldo Cooper, of West Rasen, Lincolnshire, records in
the 'Zoologist,' page 1775, that he has found one on the ground three
feet from the nearest bush, and at page 1023, John Harlow, Esq.
relates a similar instance. There have been others also.
The eggs, usually four or five in number, very seldom six, are of
a beaut if id clear greenish blue colour, with more or fewer distinct
black spots and dots, principally over the larger end. The youngest
of my three boys, Marmaduke Charles Frederick Morris, has one
entirely plain, with the exception of a single dot. N. Rowc, Esq., of
Worcester College, Oxford, has also taken the eggs of a uniform blue
without any spots or specks, and J. R. Wise, Esq., of Lincoln College,
Oxford, has another of the same variety. James Dalton, Esq., of
Worcester College, Oxford, has forwarded me another: they seem to
be not very uncommon. They vary considerably in size: some are
very small.
Male; length, from about eight inches and a half to nine inches and
a quarter. The bill is rather large in proportion to the size of the
bird—along the base of the upper mandible, which is of a blackish
brown colour, are a few bristly feathers; the lower mandible is pale
dusky yellowish red. Iris, rich dark chesnut brown; a dark streak
runs from the bill to and over it; from the base of the hill extends
a faint greyish yellow or pale reddish yellow streak"; eyelids, grey.