BLACK THRUSH, OR BLACKBIRD. 87 



flight is peculiar, for then the female especially moves through 

 the air as if by starts, performing a single flap, followed by a 

 considerable interval, and then continuing its course. The 

 Missel Thrush, the Fieldfare, and the Redwing, frequently 

 take long flights, and are often seen advancing at the height of 

 several hundred yards ; but the Blackbird rarely ventures on a 

 long excursion, but prefers skulking as it were among the 

 hedges and trees. Compared with the Song Thrush, it is a 

 very lively bird, and it is amusing to observe one that has just 

 alighted on a twig, and see how gracefully it bends forward, 

 throws up/ its tail, jerking it at intervals, depresses and at 

 intervals flaps its wings, and then perhaps flits to another 

 branch, w'here it performs the same motions, or alights on the 

 wall, hops along, suddenly stops, jerks its tail, flaps its wings, 

 and then commences singing. 



Even in severe weather in winter, Blackbirds are not gre- 

 garious ; and on no occasion have I seen more than three or 

 four together, and that only for a few minutes. Although a 

 male and a female may sometimes associate during that season, 

 it is much more common to find them solitary. Nor does this 

 species cherish the society of any other, though it may be seen 

 in the vicinity of a Song Thrush, a Hedge Chanter, or other 

 small bird. While the Fieldfares and Redwings cover a field 

 in search of food, the Blackbirds very seldom venture amongst 

 them, but prefer the shelter of the fences. 



The female is less clamorous than the male, who, on being 

 alarmed or irritated, especially in the breeding season, emits a 

 loud clear chuckling cry, in some degree approaching to the 

 chatter of the magpie, fluttering or flapping its wings, and 

 bending its body forwards at the same time. This remarkable 

 cry, variously modulated by different individuals, sometimes 

 exhibits a slight resemblance to the cackle of a domestic hen 

 after laying ; but whether it be the same as that alluded to by a 

 correspondent in the " Naturalist," as similar to the crowing of a 

 cock, and by the editor of that journal as resembling the notes 

 of several varieties of that species, I am unable to determine, 

 not having listened to the individuals mentioned by them. 

 This much however I have observed, not as a singular circum- 

 stance, nor even as one common to a few individuals, but as 



