14 BLACKBIRD. 



Seebohm calls Alerula 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 dried 

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

 with reddish-brown : average measurements it by '85 in. Blue 

 varieties resembling eggs of the Starling are sometimes met with, 

 but it is well known that the Blackbird and the Song-Thrush occa- 

 sionally inter-breed, and these blue eggs may be the result of such a 

 union, upon which Mr. R. M. Christy has a valuable paper (Tr. 

 Norw. Soc. iii. p. 588). 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 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 in winter, and fruit in 

 summer. The Blackbird's powerful song 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 sometimes assist the parents in feeding the second brood. 



Adult male : entire plumage glossy-black ; bill and edges of the 

 eyelids yellow ; legs and feet brownish-black. Length about 10 in. ; 

 wing 4"9 in. Female : umber-brown, pale and more rufous on the 

 throat and breast, with darker streaks — some mountain forms being 

 exceptionally light-coloured ; bill and legs brownish. Young males 

 can be distinguished in the nest by their 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, they 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. Albinos 

 and pied varieties of the Blackbird are by no means uncommon. 



