bscrbatians 011 ix "^mxd ^Vliuhbirtis. 



By H. PERCY LEONARD. 



Read February Gth, 1890. 



r I 1HE paper which I have the honour of reading before 

 -*- you to-night will consist for the most part of observa- 

 tions which I have made on a pair of blackbirds which have 

 for a twelvemonth past haunted our back garden. 



I cannot chronicle anything new or striking with regard 

 to the habits of these birds, but I have thought that a 

 truthful account of ^' the short and simple annals " of the 

 blackbird might be of interest to the Society. 



There are several reasons which induce the blackbirds to 

 leave the open country?- and to frequent the neighbourhood 

 of human habitations. 



The country blackbird is in constant jeopardy from the 

 sparrow-hawk ; and though I have on two occasions seen 

 this bird in the neighbourhood of Redland, it is of rare 

 occurrence in the suburbs of a town. 



Then in the nesting season the magpie and jay are fre- 

 quently successful in stealing the eggs and the young, and 

 from these tyrants man's presence is a protection. 



In summer the birds find the fruit-trees an attraction, and 

 the slugs and snails are more abundant in well watered 



2(2 ■ 



