238 BRITISH BIRDS. 
at Arcachon, where both the Blackbird and the Song-Thrush winter in some 
numbers, it was especially noticeable that, whilst the latter were generally 
seen in the loftiest pines, the former were exclusively found in the under- 
wood, which there consists of furze, broom, and heath, the latter frequently 
attaining a height of from six to ten feet. As a rule, Blackbirds are 
extremely sedentary birds, rarely make excursions to any distance, and for 
weeks, nay, whole seasons, regularly frequent one locality. The Blackbird’s 
flights are almost entirely restricted to those taken from or to its feeding- 
grounds, should they not be immediately adjoining its haunts. From the 
shrubberies to the gardens it regularly passes, especially in early morning 
and in the dusk of the evening; yet the bird is apparently always in a 
hurry, and anxious to reach the shelter and seclusion of its haunt as soon 
as possible. 
There is no reason to think that the Blackbird is migratory in the 
British Islands. Many birds shift their quarters, either from the colder 
districts and those parts of the uplands which they haunt in summer, or 
they quit the open fields when the hedgerows are rendered bare by the 
wintry blasts; but the bird is not a migrant in the accepted meaning 
of the word. In severe winters, however, the numbers of our resident 
birds are perceptibly increased by birds from the continent driven south 
by stress of weather. On Heligoland, that interesting little island, of all 
other places the best for observing the annual movements of the bird world, 
the Blackbird is regularly obtained on spring and autumn migration, clearly 
demonstrating the fact that the species is, at all events, a migratory one 
in the northern portions of its range. 
Morning and evening are the times when the Blackbird usually seeks 
his food; and then you can study his graceful attitudes and sprightly 
bearing to perfection. In spring and summer it is, for the most part, 
obtained from the grass-lands—the lawns and pastures near his haunts. 
At the morning’s dawn, or when the sun is well down in the west, 
you can observe them with ease. One by one you may see them fly 
rapidly out of the dense shrubbery or wood and alight amongst the grass. 
‘They remain motionless for a few seconds after alighting, with legs at a 
graceful angle, neck arched, head turned slightly aside, as if they were 
listening intently, and tail almost at right angles to the body; for these 
birds, like Ring-Ouzels and Magpies, always elevate their tails upon 
alighting. ‘They crouch low amongst the herbage, thus presenting an 
appearance the very model of easy though wary gracefulness and beauty. 
Few birds are more shy while feeding than the Blackbird; and the instant 
he is alarmed, he either crouches lower to the ground or retires into the 
fastnesses whence he came. The Blackbird most frequents the pastures 
in the morning and at evening—when the small white snails occur in 
largest numbers, and the earthworms come nearer to the surface of the 
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