THE THRUSH THE BLACKBIRD. 253 



over with dry grass, and is exemplary in the care of its young. 

 It has a black coat as its name implies, and an orange 

 tawny bill. The blackbird has to some extent the power 

 of the mocking bird, of imitating the sounds it hears, such 

 as the chuckling of a hen, the song of the nightingale, the 

 caw of the crow. In the "Magazine of Natural History" of 

 September 1831, Mr. Bouchier of Wold Rectory, near North- 

 ampton, says : " Within half a mile of my residence there is 

 a blackbird which crows constantly, and as accurately as the 

 common cock, and nearly as loud; as it may, on a still day, 

 be heard at the distance of several hundred yards. When 

 first told of the circumstance, I conjectured that it must have 

 been the work of a cock pheasant, concealed in a neighbour- 

 ing brake; but, on the assurance that it was nothing more or 

 less than a common blackbird, I determined to ascertain the 

 fact with my own eyes and ears; and this day I had the 

 gratification of getting close to it, seated on the top bough 

 of an ash tree, and pursuing with unceasing zeal its unusual 

 note. The resemblance to the crow of the domestic cock 

 is so perfect, that more than one in the distance were an- 

 swering it. It occasionally indulged in its usual song; but 

 only for a second or two; resuming its more favourite note; 

 and once or twice it commenced with crowing, and broke off 

 in the middle into its natural whistle. In what way this 

 bird has acquired its present propensity I am unable to say, 

 except that as its usual haunt is near a mill where poultry 

 are kept, it may have learned the note from the common 

 fowl." 



The Blackbird of America resembles his English cousin in 

 most particulars. He is often seen following the plough, 

 looking for worms in the fresh furrows, and frequently, like the 

 crow, stealing the planted maize or Indian corn from the hill. 

 In the autumn the American Blackbirds gather in vast flocks, 

 and sometimes produce a roar like the rush of a waterfall 

 by their flight. 



