but why these noisy ‘alls are uttered is by no means clear ;
d when there is no cause for apprehension, [ am certain.

ld, his flight is now dashing, aud his turns into the

without such manifestations of its presence
near an

that they are emitted both when danger 1s
and bo

At this season the bird again becomes vigorous

hedge or among the glades of the copse are quick, bustl
The Blackbird beg a more stationary species than the

wood in which it has taken up ‘ts abode. Great numbers

Whether these migrants d

birds is somewhat uncertain.

in my opinion, so much useless writing ; they have

ing, and determined.
Thrush, seldom removes from the garden or the
occasionally arrive from the continent about the

, 5 : save our isl A OMNONe :
time of the coming of the Fieldfare. 0 or do not leave our island again when the

great vernal movement takes place among

To describe the nest and eggs of so common a bird is, ! ct y he
the time of Gilbert White to the popular ‘ History of British

been described over and over again, from Brit
den the nest may be seen ; and an examination

Birds,’ by the Rey. C. A. Johns. Almost in every cottage gar
i : ini 1 ici istinguish it fr ‘lay-plastere t of the Thrush, just as i
of its greasy lining will be sufficient to distinguish it from the clay-plastered nest o sa s its
freckled olive eggs differ from those of that species.

Macgillivray, speaking of its food, states that i
Helix aspersa aud H. nemoralis, the shells of which it breaks by raising
against a stone or other bard surface; it also occasionally breaks them
the shell is much thinner. Like many other birds, however, its food is
of one I found a great number of seeds and husks of Graminee, including
ra and seeds of various kinds; in that of a fourth, mollusca

winter it ‘consists principally of snails, especially
them in its bill and dashing them
by pecking against the spire, where
much varied. Thus in the stomach
wheat and oats; in that of another,
coleopterous insects ; in that of a third, coleopte
and fragments of shells ; in that of a fifth, seeds, mollusca, and a few grains of gravel. Earthworms, larvee,
berries, and seeds of different kinds have been found in others that I have opened. It also greedily devours
slugs, worms, and fruits. When gooseberries are in season you may see them feeding from sunrise to sun-
set, except when they betake themselves to a pond to wash. In winter they feed on the wild fruit of the
hedges, and on slugs and worms in the pastures. The sides of hedges and walls are favourite places of
resort at these times, for it there readily procures worms and snails. In hard weather it often eats the
berries of the Hawthorn, which it swallows whole, and betakes itself to the cornyards, where it picks up
seeds, chiefly on the ground.”

On consulting the works of Selby and Yarrell, we learn that the Blackbird is generally distributed over
England. Macgillivray states that it is equally abundant in every part of Scotland, even the Hebrides, but
that, owing to the absence of sylvan vegetation, it does not breed in those islands ; and Thompson says it is
a common resident throughout the wooded districts of Ireland. On the continent of Europe it is as
abundant as with us, and proceeds as far north as Norway and Sweden, and occasionally to Iceland ; south-
wardly it occurs on the shores of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, and even beyond these waters, for I
have seen skins from Persia, Asia Minor, the three provinces of Algeria, and other parts of North Africa ;
it also forms part of the avifauna of Madeira, the Azores, and the island of Teneriffe, where I found it
abundant, and shot specimens; from further south than this I have never seen examples.

The two sexes difter considerably in oatward appearance, the entire plumage of the male being coal-black,
while his bare eyelid and his bill are of the richest orange, a hue which also pervades the inside of the
mouth and throat during the breeding-season; the female, on the other hand, has the general plumage
brown, and the throat grey, streaked with dark brown.

The Plate represents a fine adult male and a hen sitting on her nest, with its frequent accompaniment, the
Honeysuckle, all of the natural size.

a eI ad