THE BLACKBIRD. 



This bird is an early breeder : it prepares a nest 

 composed externally of green moss, fibrous roots, and 

 other similar materials ; the inside is plastered with 

 earth, and afterwards lined with dry grass ; and the nest 

 is generally placed in a thick bush, or against the side 

 of a bank. 



The song of the blackbird commences early in the 

 spring, and is a shrill kind of whistle of various notes. 

 It has much less variety and compass than the voice of 

 the thrush, but it is far more mellow. Of this bird 

 Grahame says : — 



" When snow- drops die, and the green primrose leaves 

 Announce the coming flower, the merle's note, 

 Mellifluous, rich, deep-toned, fills all the vale, 

 And charms the ravished ear. The hawthorn bush 

 New budded, is his perch ; there the grey dawn 

 He hails ; and there, with parting light, concludes 

 His melody. There, when the buds begin, 

 More richly full, melodious he renews." 



Another poet, Montgomery, says : — " Those who 

 live in the country, and who are apt to awake early 



