BLACKBIRD. 283 



north than lat. 6G°; but in Norway its range extends at 

 least a degree higher — the Messrs. Godman having found 

 it breeding at Bodo ; and in the middle and south of each 

 of these countries it is common. It is occasionally seen in 

 the Foeroes, and two cases are recorded of its occurrence in 

 Iceland. It breeds in Southern Finland and over a large 

 part of Eussia, but its northern limits are not known. As 

 regards its eastern range, Pallas says it goes as far as 

 the Kaama, and, though he never saw it beyond the Ural 

 Mountains, yet he mentions its being a winter-resident in 

 Persia, where De Filippi once observed it. It has been 

 said to occur in Cashmere and Aifghanistan ; but Messrs. 

 Sharpe and Dresser consider the species from those countries 

 to be distinct. It has been observed at Erzeroom and 

 Trebizond in winter and spring. It breeds in Syria and 

 Palestine, but it is not abundant there. In Egypt it is a 

 winter-visitant and scarce. In Tunis and thence to the 

 westward as far as Morocco it is common, and is found in 

 the Canaries, Madeira and even the Azores. It seems to 

 be plentiful at one time of the year or another in all the 

 countries of the European Continent not hitherto mentioned, 

 in many parts of the South, however, only as a winter- 

 visitant, in which capacity it appears in most of the islands 

 of the Mediterranean. 



The bill and edges of the eyelids in the adult male are 

 gamboge-yellow : the whole of the plumage glossy black ; 

 lower surface of the wings shining greyish-black ; the legs 

 and toes brownish-black ; claws black. 



The whole length is about ten inches. The wing, from 

 the carpal joint to the end of the longest primary, four 

 inches and seven-eighths : the second feather not quite so 

 long as the fifth, but longer than the sixth ; the third, 

 fourth and fifth feathers equal and longest. 



In the female the bill and feet are dusky brown, the 

 plumage above is of an uniform umber-brown ; the chin, 

 throat and upper part of the breast orange-brown, with 

 a few darker-coloured spots ; belly, sides and lower tail- 

 coverts hair-brown . 



