14 BLACKBIRD. 



range further north or east than the valley of the Volga ; being 

 represented in Turkestan, Afghanistan, and Kashmir by a larger 

 resident species or form, which Seebohm named Mcriila maxima. 

 In winter its numbers in southern countries are considerably increased 

 by migrants from the north. 



The usual nesting-places selected by the Blackbird are bushes, 

 especially evergreens and hedge-rows ; occasionally the ground ; but 

 the nest differs from that of the Thrush in being lined with dry 

 grasses. The 4-6 eggs are of a greenish-blue, spotted and streaked 

 with reddish-brown : measurements i"i by '85 in. Blue varieties 

 resembUng eggs of the Starling are sometimes met with, but 

 Mr. R. M. Christie has brought forward (Tr. Norw. Soc, iii, p. 588, 

 and iv, p. 582) some evidence indicating that the Blackbird and the 

 Song-Thrush may occasionally inter-breed, and it has been suggested 

 that these blue eggs may be the result of such a union. Several 

 broods are hatched during the season, the first often by the end of 

 March. The old birds are much more shy during the breeding- 

 season than is the Song-Thrush, but the cock, especially at pairing- 

 time, is very quarrelsome. The food consists of worms, insects and 

 their larvae, slugs and snails, with seeds, hawthorn- and other berries 

 m winter, and fruit in summer. The Blackbird's powerful song — 

 heard at its best after an April shower — makes it a favourite for the 

 cage, and it is further gifted with a considerable power of mimicry ; 

 while its noisy, rattling alarm-note, as it flits from the hedge-rows or 

 copses to which it is partial, must be familiar to every one. A 

 peculiarity by which the Blackbird may be recognized, even in a bad 

 light, is its habit of sharply raising its tail the moment it perches. 

 As in the case of the Song-Thrush, the young of this species some- 

 times assist the parents in feeding the second brood. 



The adult male has the entire plumage glossy-black ; bill and 

 edges of the eyelids orange-yellow ; legs and feet brownish-black. 

 Length lo'i in. ; wing 5 in. The female is umber-brown, paler 

 and more rufous on the throat and breast, with darker streaks — some 

 mountain forms being exceptionally light-coloured ; bill and legs 

 brownish. The young male can be distinguished in the nest by its 

 stouter bill and darker hue, especially along the carpal joint ; and if 

 a few of the first brown feathers of the breast be pulled out, these 

 will be reproduced of a black colour. Later, the plumage is 

 blackish-brown above, with pale shaft-streaks ; under parts lighter. 

 Even after assuming the adult plumage, young males of the year 

 have blackish bills until their second year. Pied varieties and 

 albinisms are by no means uncommon. 



