86 MERULID^. 



coat and yellow beak he is tlie handsomer bird of the 

 two ; his food is much the same ; he builds his nest in 

 similar places; he is a great glutton when gooseberries 

 are ripe, and his rich mellow song is highly inspiriting. 

 But he is suspicious and wary ; however hard pressed he 

 may be by hunger, you will rarely see him hunting for food 

 in the open field. He prefers the solitude and privacy oi 

 " the bush." In a furze-brake, a coppice, a wooded water- 



THE BLACKBIRD. 



course, or a thick hedgerow, he chooses his feeding 

 ground, and allows no sort of partnership. Approach 

 his haunt, and if he simply mistrusts you, he darts out 

 flying close to the ground, pursues his course some twenty 

 yards and dips again into the thicket, issuing most pro- 

 bably on the other side, and ceasing not until he has 

 placed what he considers a safe distance between himself 

 and his enemy. But with all his cunning he fails in 

 prudence; it is not in his nature to steal away silently. 

 If he only suspects that aU is not right, he utters 



