The blackbird (Fig. 200) may easily be distinguished from the [Pg 308] thrush by its colour—the male being black, with a yellow beak, and the female blackish brown, slightly mottled below. The blackbird is slightly larger than the thrush, but in shape and habits the two birds are very similar; they haunt the same woods, live upon similar food (i.e. worms, insects, snails and, in winter, fruit) and build their nests in similar situations. The blackbird’s song is, however, quite distinctive, and consists of mellow, flute like notes, without the repetition which is so characteristic of the throstle and missel-thrush. The blackbird is fond of perching, when singing, upon a bare branch which commands a good view of the surroundings. The nest (Fig. 201) is much like that of the song thrush, but the inside has a soft lining of fine grass instead of being hardened with mud. The 4, 5, or occasionally 6 eggs are bluish-green in colour, and are marked with blurred brown spots. Fig. 201.—Blackbird’s Nest. [Pg 309] Curiously enough, young blackbirds, like young thrushes, are very distinctly spotted. There can be no doubt that blackbirds and thrushes are descended from the same stock, and that their ancestors had spotted breasts. For some reason, the blackbird has lost its family colours, although, as is so often the case among animals, it is still compelled to bear the marks of its ancestry during its infancy. Young blackbirds also receive a musical education from their parents, and may often be heard practising their song in September or October. The fieldfare, another near relative of the thrush, arrives in this country about the beginning of October, and stays with us for the winter, returning in spring to its nesting places among the pines and firs of Norway. The general colour of the bird is grey, with reddish-brown on the wings, and its breast is speckled in the thrush-manner. Fieldfares frequent fields in large parties, especially in the evenings, but are readily alarmed.