This article, by a then-prominent member of the Club, first appeared in ‘British Birds’ volume 52:5 (pages 165–6), in May 1959.
Bird and place names were spelt as shown. For their current status, please see our county lists.
Hen Blackbird killing young. — During the period 10–11 a.m. on 7th June 1956, a female Blackbird (Turdus merula) was seen to kill the four half-feathered young from her nest which was situated among boxes stored in the packing house of the Avonholme Nurseries, near Evesham, Worcestershire. The Blackbird carried three of the young from the nest and killed them by pecking them and knocking them on the concrete floor, and the last she killed in the nest. This was witnessed by Mr. J. C. Ewens, owner of the Nurseries, and by two of his employees at work in the packing house. The male Blackbird was not seen in or near the building at any time. Subsequently the female built another nest which contained two young and one infertile egg by the end of June.
Antony J. Harthan
Reproduced by kind permission of British Birds 
.
Ornithology in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire & the West Midlands county, since 1929.
Fetched from http://www.westmidlandbirdclub.com/bibliography/british-birds/52-165.htm on Friday 25 July 2008 19:39:33
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