THE BIRD OF SOCIETY. 97 



folk, will not cease to scold and scream so long 

 as you stay, running along the branches, and 

 eying you from every side. 



Should his mate be sitting she will keep si- 

 lent, and show herself more wary than her 

 spouse, but if the young are out she will soon 

 appear. She differs so greatly from her con- 

 sort that you may not recognize her till she 

 adds her volubility to the melee and you per- 

 ceive that her voice is exactly like his. She is 

 smaller, and an inconspicuous gray and brown 

 in color, which better fits her for her maternal 

 duties, but her manner of carrying herself, her 

 restlessness, and the expressive use of the tail 

 are like his. He is the most conspicuous fea- 

 ture in the landscape ; shining black from the 

 point of the bill to the tip of the toes, his color 

 harmonizes with nothing in nature, and his gold- 

 fringed, scarlet epaulets gleam through the trees 

 like gems. 



Sit down quietly and watch the bird. Not- 

 withstanding his " society " life he has not the 

 slightest repose of manner. He is incessantly 

 in motion ; to stand still and be looked at is im- 

 possible to a blackbird. He will walk along a 

 small branch in such a way that it requires a 

 close look to see that he does not put one foot 

 before the other. He really " sidles," but holds 

 his body in the direction he is moving, so that 



