30 BIRDS OF THE WAVE AND WOODLAND 



" The Blackbird ivhistles down the vale, 



Hoiv blithe the lay." 



Scott. 



" The Merle's note 



Mellifliioiis, rich, deep toned, fills all the vale 



And charms the rai'ish'd ear^ 



Graham E. 



The blackbird is the shadow of the thrush : you seldom see 

 or hear one without the other : nor, indeed, is either of them 

 often mentioned alone. Yet the blackbird is probably the 

 more commonly seen. For one thing, it is a very conspicuous 

 bird ; for another, it is not so diffident as the thrush. It is the 

 blackbirds that you see flying out of the cherry-trees and 

 strawberry-beds, but if you set nets for the marauders, as I 

 did one year to stock an aviary, you catch quite as many 

 mavises as merles. The former, it is said, are among the 

 fruit " looking for worms," but I doubt it. They are not so 

 bold in their depredations as their black cousins, but I fancy 

 they are more sly. Blackbirds will fly away with a cherry 

 in their beaks or a strawberry without any affectation of 

 innocence : the thrush, when startled, goes off " empty- 

 handed." But throw down a handful of fruit, especially 

 raspberries, in an aviary, go aside and watch which bird is 

 first at the feast — it is the thrush. 



