THE BLACKBIRD. 87 



repeatedly a low cluck, wMcli seems to say, "This is no 

 place for me, I must be off." But if lie is positively 

 alarmed, his loud vociferous cry rings out like a bell, 

 informing all whom it may concern that "danger is at 

 hand, and it behoves all who value their safety to fly." 

 Most animals understand the cry in this sense, and catch the 

 alarm. Many a time has the deer-stalker been disappointed 

 of a shot, who, after traversing half a mile on his hands 

 and knees between rocks and shrubs, has just before the 

 critical moment of action started some ill-omened Black- 

 bird. Out bursts the frantic alarum, heard at a great 

 distance ; the intended victim catches the alarm, once 

 snuffs the air to discover in what direction the foe lies 

 concealed, and bounds to a place of security. A some- 

 what similar note, not, however, indicative of terror, real 

 or imagined, is uttered when the bird is about to retire 

 for the night, and this at all seasons of the year. He 

 merits, therefore, the title of "Bellman of the woods," 

 though I am not aware that it has been conferred on him. 

 !N"either of these sounds is to be confounded with the true 

 song of the Blackbird. This is a full, melodious, joyful 

 carol, many of the notes being remarkable for their flute- 

 like tone — "the whisthng of the Blackbird" — and varying 

 greatly in their order of repetition ; though I am inclined 

 to believe that most birds of this kind have a favourite 

 passage, which they repeat at intervals many times during 

 the same performance. 



The song of the Blackbhd does not meet the appro- 

 bation of bird-fanciers: "It is not destitute of melody," 

 says Bechstein, "but it is broken by noisy tones, and is 

 agreeable only in the open country." Education, it seems, 

 will remedy this defect, for " its memory is so good, that 

 it retains, Avithout mixing them, several airs at once." The 

 art of teaching the Blackbird is of old date, for we find in 

 Pepys's Diary, 22d May, 1663, the following passage : 

 " Eendall, the house carpenter at Deptford, hath sent mo 



