niVAI.VK. 



BLACK-CAP. 



I'.IVAI.VK, a name applied t.. those fomu of Shell-Fifth which liave 

 two (hell* or valves in contradistinction to those which have one iihell, 

 and whicharecallcdrniY.i/rr. [MoLLDMA.] Before the structure of the 

 Invertebrate A ninml* wn* iui well known OK it in at the present day, the 

 Barnacle* and Sea Acorns, which bare several external valves or sheila, 

 were referred to the Mollntca, under the name of Muliiralrn. 



I'. I \ A, a Went ludiau p'lnn <( plants belougingto the natural order 

 Flofourliafftr. It produce* the snlwtuniv called Aruotto. The only 

 species of any geiu-r.il int.. real in the genus in the liira Orellana, a 

 native of the Malayan Archipelago, but now extremely common in 

 the West Indies, where it is cultivated in rich moist soil by the sides 

 of rivers. 



Jlira Orellana. 



\, A flower wen from beneath ; 2, a petal ; 3, an ovary with style and stigma ; 

 4, a seed cut vertically, showing the embryo ; 5, a ripe fruit. 



This plant forms a small tree with deep-green liiuing heart-shaped 

 leaves, and clusters of purplish flowers, which are succeeded by capsule* 

 of a heart-shaped form, covered with Htimsh bristle*, and opening 

 into two valves which contain, attached to their middle, a number of 

 seeds covered with a soft, sticky, vermilion-coloured rind. It is the 

 latter which furnishes the arnotto of commerce. According to Fee, 

 this substance is obtained by heaping up the seeds in water for several 

 weeks or months, and afterwards pressing them, when the colouring 

 matter separates and is afterwards precipitated in the water. Or the 

 pulp is separated by washing and maceration, and the colouring matter 

 precipitated by the aid of an acid, and caught upon fine sieves. Inde- 

 pendently of the use of arnotto for staining cheese and butter, the 

 Indians paint their persona with it, and Unix, it is said, destroy the 

 subcutaneous vermin with which they are infested. It acts as a 

 purgative taken internally ; but it* reputed powers as an antidote to 

 the poison of the cassava are imaginary. 



ItlXIXE.K, a natural order of plants named after the genus Bixa. 

 The genus Bita and its allies are now placed in the natural order 

 flaeottrii'i<-rir. \ KI..M uritTiACBJt] 



BLACK P.KKKY. [KfBCS,] 



P.I.Ai 'K P.I III >, the English name for the well-known native songster, 

 Mrritla ridyarii of Ray, Turdai Mcrula of Linnicus, the Schwarz- 

 Dronsel and Schwarze-Amsel of the Germans, Merle of the French, 

 Kerla and Merlo of the Italian*, and K.6nvqm or KoWv^oi of the 

 ancient Greeks. 



The Blackbird is too well known to require a description, but a 

 word or two on the subject of its habits may not bo misplaced. There 

 are not wanting those who praise the Hong-thrush at the e*|i 

 the blackbird, alleging that, though the former commit* <|. ],>. 

 in our fruit-gardens in summer, it makes amends by its destruction of 



the shell-enails (llrtis tuperta and //. nrmvralu) ; whereas the blackbird 

 is a most notorious fruit-eater, without any such redeeming quality. 

 That the thrush does this service is most true, but it is not less true 

 that the blackbird is particularly f.-n.l of the shell-mails, which it 

 devours in the same way as the thrush. In truth, small slugs and 

 shell snails, to use the expression of a garden labourer, form "the 

 chief of its living," while the thrush is equally fond of fruit in the 

 season ; but the plumage of the thrush is in it* favour, and it is often 

 pecking away at the fruit without being seen. When disturbed it 

 glides away without noise ; but the blackbird's sharp cry of alarm as 

 it escapes generally strikes the ear, if its black coat and yellow bill 

 have not arrested the eye. Thus much in justice to the blackbirds, 

 for we know of instances where a war of extermination ha* been waged 

 against them while the thrushes have been held sacred. 



Early in the spring the Blackbird begin* to build its nest A 

 thick-set hedge-row, on insulated close bush, n low iu.-l tree, are all 

 favourite places. Mo**, small sticks, root-fibres, are the materials, 

 with an internal coat of mud-plaster, over which is a lining of fine 

 dry gross. Four or five eggs of a bluish-green, variegated with darker 

 markings, are here deposited. Aristotle (book v. c. 13) observe* that 

 it lay* twice, and Buffon says that the first deposit ranges from five 

 to six eggs, but the second only from four to five. The early Reason 

 at which it begins to lay is often so cold a* to destroy the first brood ; 

 moreover, the leafless state of the hedge or bush at that period makes 

 the nest an easy prey to the school-boy. 



The Blackbird is in general shy, but there are exceptions to the 

 remark, at is proved by the following statement. In the spring 

 of 1834 a pair of blackbirds built their nest in a faggot-pile close 

 to the door of a kitchen-garden in the parish of Sunbiiry, 

 Middlesex, where the garden-labourer* were passing all day long 

 wheeling manure into the garden, Ac. The nest was built among 

 some dead thorns, there piled up, so low that the passer-by could look 

 into it, and was very much exposed ; but the parents, notwithstanding 

 the curiosity of spectators, brought up their nestlings. This was a 

 lute brood ; and as many early nests had been taken in the neigh- 

 bouring hedge-rows, it is not impossible that the birds, disappointed 

 of their first brood, might hare been driven to choose a spot nearer 

 the house for security. 



Albinos sometimes occur among these birds. Several instances are 

 recorded : the following is from ' Loudon's Magazine' (No. 43, p. 596) : 

 "In 1829 a blackbird's nest, containing four or five young ones, was 

 found at Rougham, near Bury St. Edmund*, Suffolk. One of the 

 young ones differed in colour materially from the rest. Its eyes were 

 red, its bill was yellow (which is not usual in very young blackbirds). 

 The nest was not taken till the young were fully fledged. On attempt- 

 ing to capture them, two or three made their escape ; the white one 

 was safely caught. The red-eyed bird afterwards became nearly or 

 wholly white, and it still retains this colour." In the British Museum 

 there is a female of a dusky white or cream-colour with Yorkshire for 

 it- locality. Other instances are recorded. 



Bechstein, in his work on Cage-Birds, says, " The white variety is 

 very well known ; there is besides the streaked, the block with a 

 white head, and the pearl-gray." The same author gives the follow ini; 

 account of the musical properties of the Blackbird in confinement : 

 " It* voice is so strong and clear that in a city it may be heard from 

 one end of a long street to the other. It* memory is so good that it 

 retains without mixing them several airs at once, and it will rvru 

 repeat little sentences. It is a great favourite with the lovers of a 

 plaintive, clear, and musical song, and may in- these respects be pre- 

 ferred to the bullfinch, whose voice is softer, more flute-like, but also 

 more melancholy. The price of these two birds, if well taught, is 

 about the same." 



Tunli'.i tt:,-i/natut is called the Ring-Blackbird. [Tuni" 



RLAI K I'.iiNNKT, one of the names of the Reed Bunting. 



[K.M1IKKIXA.] 



BLACK -< 'A P. the common English name for the Black-Cup Warbler, 

 I ).-i- M.'.iieh of the Germans, Fauvctte a Tcte Noire of the French, 

 Caponera Gentile of the Italians, Atrini/-ill<i of AldrovaiiduK. t 'nrruca 

 i/la of Brisson, Motacilla. ///</>/,///(/ ami Mi>im-illn /i..W''./ 

 of Gmelin (the latter being the female), Fylria o<nV/""" of Latham 

 and of Bechstein, and Curruca o/rioi/"'/" of (iould ('Birds of 

 Europe '). 



"Of all the birds," says Sweet, "that reside in or visit the British 

 Islands there is none that can come up to the present for song except 

 the nightingale, and by some persons it is more admired than even 

 rd. Its arrival in this country is generally about the first week 

 in April, mid the earliest that I ever saw was on the '2Mh of March. 

 Tin y leave us again about the end of September, sometimes a strag- 

 gling one may be seen at the beginning of October ; the latest I ever 

 saw in a wild state was on the 18th of that month. When it first 

 arrives in this country it* chief food is the early ripened lorries of 

 tli.- i\ v, am) where those are there the black -caps are first to be heard 

 singing their melodious and varied song. By the time the ivy-berries 

 are over the little green larva! of the small moths will be getting 

 plentiful, rolled up in the young shoots and leaves ; this then i their 

 .-lii.-f fond until tlie ftomwbtnta and cherries become ripe; after that 

 there is no want of fruit or berries till their return, and there is no 

 sort of fruit or berry that is eatable or wholesome that they will 



