BLACK THRUSH, OR BLACKBIRD. 89 



other songsters, except the Thrush or the Nightingale, are 

 mute, and when its mellow notes come swelling on the ear, 

 shedding a benign influence on every heart not entirely har- 

 dened by a habitual disregard of nature. On the 1st of May, 

 1837, a Blackbird in the garden commenced his song at three 

 in the morning ; a fortnight after I heard one as early as half- 

 past two ; and in the middle of summer, I have listened to it 

 before going to bed, when the twilight peeped in between the 

 shutters upon the untired student thus admonished of the pro- 

 priety of intermitting his labours. The first morning song of 

 the Blackbird is very singular, and altogether different from 

 that of the evening, consisting of repetitions of the same 

 unmusical strain, performed with a harsh screaming voice. It 

 continues for a quarter of an hour or more, and is not again 

 heard until towards sunrise, when it is renewed in a bolder, 

 louder, and more joyous strain. In cold and cloudy weather 

 however, this twilight strain is seldom heard, for then the bird 

 waits until it is full day before it commences its song. Al- 

 though the Blackbird sings at all times of the day, it is more 

 especially in the mornings and evenings that it pours forth its 

 delightful melodies, which, simple as they are, I am unable to 

 describe in a more effective manner than by characterizing 

 them as loud, rich, mellow, and much surpassing in effect those 

 of any other native bird, excepting the Nightingale, Song 

 Thrush, Blackcap, and Garden Warbler. I have heard indivi- 

 duals singing most fervently in the midst of a heavy thunder 

 storm, when the rain was falling thickly, and the lightning 

 flashing at an alarming rate ; and both this species and the 

 Song Thrush seem to regard the summer rains with pleasure. 

 The season at which the Blackbird is in full song commences 

 about the middle of February, and ends about the begin- 

 ning of August ; but in calm and especially warm weather, 

 whether clear or cloudy, it may sometimes be heard in the 

 winter and early spring months. Thus in the uncommonly 

 mild winter of 1837, it was frequently heard in the south of 

 Scotland in December, although the severe frost and snow 

 which happened in January following entirely put an end to 

 its mirth for weeks. 



