BLACKBIRD. 205 



The song period of the Blackbird is much more restricted 

 than that of the Song-Thrush ; in most years it does not sing 

 until February, and in July the birds cease one by one and 

 seldom sing again after the moult. On exceptionally mild 

 days in December and January a few snatches may be heard, 

 but autumn songs are rare. The mellow, flute-like song, 

 though not covering a wide range, has great variety ; the bird 

 rings the changes on a series of notes. The song is loud, clear 

 and very beautiful, but has a weak ending, almost a hissing 

 collapse. When not in song the bird is seldom silent ; its loud, 

 startled, and often startHng, rattling scream of alarm, a jumble 

 of notes run together, is heard at all seasons. When it suddenly 

 appears on the lawn it scares all other birds with this note 

 uttered as a chuckle, but imagined danger sends it off with a 

 wilder scream. When flushed from the nest or merely disturbed 

 during its investigation of the autumn litter the clarion alarm 

 is sounded ; I have seen a bird displaying and . frequently 

 rattling for no apparent cause. The attitudes assumed under 

 nuptial excitement suggest conceit and pugnacity ; the wings 

 are drooped, the tail uplifted and the bird flirts from side to 

 side. Half a dozen cocks will chase and fight for a hen. Few 

 birds fight more persistently, though, so far as cocks are con- 

 cerned, without serious results. Not only will the cock attack 

 a rival with beak and claw but it will waste time on its own 

 image ; for two springs a bird spent hours every morning- 

 tilting at its own reflection in one of my windows, and Mr. 

 C. B. Moffat and others have had similar experiences. In one 

 case these window attacks were in October and November, 

 when pairing and display begin. Female birds also fight, 

 probably over territorial rights ; in one instance a couple of 

 hens were disturbed when struggling together on the road, and 

 one of them dropped a beakful of feathers, almost the whole 

 scalp of its adversary. In my garden one hen chased another 

 into a trap and before I could release them had killed the 



