STORES ABOUT BIRDS. 



THE BLACKBIRD. 



The two most famous singers among our feathered friends are the blackbird 

 and the thrush, and they both belong to the same family. Indeed, the black- 

 bird might be called a black thrush. Yet his note is very different from that 

 of his relative. It is not so lively, but makes up for it by richness and 

 mellowness. On a spring evening, especially if it rains, what music is more 

 delightful than that ct the blackbird, as he pours out his heart to his partner } 



You may often see the blackbird on the lawn hunting for worms. He 

 keeps his eye on the ground for a few minutes, and then hops up to the spot 

 and gives a great peck. Then he drags out a worm and breaks it in pieces, 

 swallowing it bit by bit. He is more shy than the thrush, but more lively in 

 his disposition. He delights in the side of the hedge or of the wall, for there 

 he can easily procure worms and snails. In the winter, when there are none 

 to be had, he will devour berries of the hawthorn, or even betake himself to 

 the farmyard, and pick up what grain he can find. If he is disturbed, he utters 

 a chuckling sound, a little like the magpie's. 



The blackbird does not sing entirely to amuse his mate, for he is often 

 heard in the mild days of winter, when his notes are doubly welcome. In 

 March he thinks about making his little arrangements for the summer, and he 

 and his partner begin to build their nest. They place it in a bush of some 

 kind or other, such as a laurel or a honeysuckle, or even a hole in the wall will 

 be chosen as the favoured spot. 



It is a large nest, and the outer part is made of stalks of grass and twigs, 

 woven with moss. Next there is a layer of mud, and then another layer of 

 roots and stalks and leaves. The blackbirds rear two broods in the course of 

 the summer, or even more. A pair of blackbirds were known to build four 

 successive nests during the summer, and to rear seventeen young ones. 



There is a pretty story about the domestic life of the blackbird, to show 

 that he is not free from many little cares. He and his mate had a brood of 

 young ones, and kept feeding them all day long. But the mother had brought 

 a large worm, and gave it to one of the brood. Then she flew away, but 

 when she came back there was the worm sticking out of the mouth of the 

 poor little bird in a very uncomfortable manner. The mother blackbird 



