54 Bird-keeping. 



cage bird. He will learn to whistle tunes with great 

 precision, and is said never to forget a tune once 

 learned. An anecdote is told of one who had been 

 taught to whistle an air, which, on hearing played with 

 variations on the piano, affronted him so exceedingly 

 that he hissed and fluttered his wings till the perform- 

 ance stopped, and then gave his version of the air, 

 whistling it all through as he had learned it. The 

 same bird fell into the hands of a lady, whose custom 

 it was to have the evening hymn sung at the conclusion 

 of family prayers. He caught the tune, and always 

 accompanied their voices, and from that time regularly 

 whistled it every evening at the same hour, long after 

 he had passed into another family, and continued the 

 practice for the remainder of his life. The Blackbird 

 will also learn to imitate the songs of other birds, the 

 crowing of a cock, and the gobble of a turkey, and in 

 its wild state will often mimic them. It is not unhappy 

 in captivity if it has a large cage, perhaps because it 

 does not live in flocks, as many of the Thrush tribe 

 do, but leads rather a solitary life the greater part of 

 the year. 



The Blackbird builds early in the spring, and the 

 nest is generally placed in a bush, and made of grass- 

 stems and roots, lined with mud. Both male and 

 female are very bold in defence of their nest and 

 offspring, and will attack and drive away any prowling 

 cat that comes near them. The birds that are smallest 



