THE BLACKBIRD 
MERULA VULGARIS 
Loca names in surrounding counties : 
Status IN British Avirauna: A common and widely 
distributed resident, and increasing its range in many 
localities. 
RapiAL DisTrRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 
Paut’s: ‘The Blackbird is almost as familiar in the 
London parks and gardens as the House Sparrow is in the 
crowded streets. It is a resident, and breeds regularly 
from less than a couple of miles from St. Paul’s, in St. 
James’s Park, in every spot sufficiently suitable to its needs, 
garden, park, and pleasure-ground, right out to our radial 
limits in the open country. Few are the private grounds, 
orchards, and open spaces where the noisy yet sweet- 
voiced songster may not be heard. I have frequently 
remarked its exceptional numbers about the orchards 
and gardens at Acton, Ealing, and Gunnersbury, also in 
Battersea Park; whilst its song, especially at morn and 
even, is a marked feature in such leafy suburbs as Dulwich 
and Clapham. In winter the bird may often be observed 
in the squares, fraternising with Starlings and Sparrows. 
I have seen it at this season in the Embankment Gardens 
between Charing Cross and the Temple, as well as in 
gardens near Euston Road. It is common in the 
Botanical Gardens, and I lately saw it at the Marble 
Arch. 
One of the first signs of the advent of spring to 
dwellers in London is the Blackbird’s resumption of 
song. Ina fairly open season the bird regains his voice 
in February, and then the flute-like warble, all too short, 
and interrupted by intervals of silence, may be heard 
almost everywhere, wherever there is sufficient greenery 
to afford the sable songster shelter. His song, with that 
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