(d) The nest.—At what time of the year do throstles pair and build their nests? In what situations have you found the nests? Write a description of the shape, size, and materials of the first throstle’s nest you find. Visit it frequently, try not to disturb the birds, and note the dates of laying of the eggs. How many eggs are laid? What are their size and colour? How are they arranged in the nest? Do the broad or the narrow ends point inwards? What are the advantages of this arrangement (i) for purposes of packing, (ii) when the eggs hatch? Do both birds sit on the eggs? If only one, which? What is the time of incubation? (e) The young.—Are the young birds naked and helpless, or feathered, at hatching? How do the parent-birds feed them? What is the appearance of the fledglings? In what respect do they (i) resemble, (ii) differ from, the parents? How long do the birds remain in the nest after hatching? Write an account of any education you have observed them to receive from the parents. {Make similar observations and notes on other birds, in addition to the special observations mentioned below, and learn to recognise their appearance, flight, song, nest, and eggs. A field-glass will be found of great assistance.} 2. The missel-thrush, or storm-cock.—Compare the missel-thrush with the song-thrush. Notice its larger size, the brighter colour of its spotted breast, and its somewhat less musical song. Listen for its song during, or immediately after, a storm, even in winter. In the nesting season observe the marked courage and pugnacity of the bird. 3. The blackbird.—Compare the blackbird with the thrushes in respect of appearance, food, habits, and song. Notice the difference in [Pg 303] the colouration of the male and female blackbird. Observe that the young bird has a spotted breast like that of a thrush, but that old blackbirds are not spotted. Have you noticed a blackbird show a preference for singing in any particular place? What observations would lead you to suppose that the blackbird is a near relative of the thrushes? 4. Fieldfares.—Distinguish these birds from thrushes. Notice that they arrive about October, and frequent fields in large parties. The thrush family.—For many reasons the thrush family forms a convenient starting point in the study of the habits of common British birds. It includes some of our very finest songsters and therefore most popular birds; many of its members are abundant in most parts of the country, so that nearly every student has the opportunity of observing them at first hand; the birds are not specially shy; and, lastly, the family affords excellent material for the method of comparison and contrast, which, be it repeated, is the essence of all sound work in nature-study.