36 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



knocking the shells against a stone. It takes a 

 variety of other food, however, in addition. Mac- 

 gillivray says : " Having opened five individuals, I 

 found in the stomach of one a great quantity of 

 seeds and husks of Graminece, including wheat and 

 oats ; in that of another, coleopterous insects ; in 

 that of a third, coleoptera and seeds of various 

 kinds ; in that of the fourth, mollusca and seeds of 

 various kinds ; in that of the fifth, seeds, mollusca, 

 and a few grains of gravel. Earthworms, larvae, 

 berries, and seeds of various kinds, I have also 

 observed in the stomachs of various individuals 

 which I have opened." 



When searching for worms upon a lawn, the 

 attitudes which this bird assumes are very varied 

 and graceful. The worm when discovered and 

 drawn forth is never swallowed whole, unless a very 

 small one, but is invariably pecked into fragments 

 and swallowed piecemeal. In hard weather it often 

 eats the berries of the hawthorn, which it swallows 

 whole, and betakes itself to the rickyards, where it 

 picks up seeds, chiefly on the ground. 



The flight of the Blackbird over an open space 

 is steady, without undulations ; but along the hedges 



