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In the spring of 1629 we saw a hen blackbird sitting on 

 her neat in the camellia-house belonging to Messrs. Lod- 

 diges at Hackney. It was built in a camellia close to the 

 walk ; so close, that a passer-by might have touched the 

 bird ; but there she sat, and, undisturbed by the crowds who 

 were attracted to the view of the noble and luxuriant collec- 

 tion in full bloom, there she safely hatched and brought up 

 her youn-j. 



Iii 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 Sunbury, Middlesex, where the garden-labourers 

 were passing all day long wheeling manure into the garden, 

 &c. 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 cu- 

 riosity of spectators, brought up their nestlings. This was 

 a late brood ; and as many early nests had been taken in 

 the neighbouring hedge-rows, it is not impossible that the 

 birds, disappointed of their first brood, might have been 

 driven to choose a spot nearer the house for security. 



Albinos sometimes occur among these birds.* Several 

 instances are recorded: the following from 'London's 

 Magazine' (No. 43, p. 596) is one of the latest. In 1829 

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

 found at Rougham, near Bury St. Edmunds, 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 Hedged. On attempting to 

 capture them, two or three made their escape; the white- 

 one was safely caught. * * * The red-eyed bird afterwards 

 me nearly or wholly white, and it still retains this co- 

 lour.' In the British Museum there is a female of a dusky 

 white or cream-colour, with Yorkshire for its locality. 



H. Bruce Campbell, Esq., lately presented a male en- 

 tirely white to the Zoological Society, in whose garden at 

 the Regent's Park it is now (1835) living. It was found in 

 June, 1832, at Belsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. There were 

 two other young ones in the nest, the plumage of which, as 

 well as that of the parents, was of the ordinary colour. 



Bechstein, in his interesting little book on cnge-birds, 

 says, ' the white variety is very well-known ; there is, bo- 

 sides, the streaked, the black with a white head, and the 

 pearl gray.' The same author gives the follow i; 

 of the musical properties of the blackbird in confinement. 

 ' Its voice is so strong and clear, that in a city it may be 

 heard from one end of a long street to the other. Its me- 

 mory is so good, that it retains without mixing them several 

 airs at once, and it will even repeat little sentences. It is a 

 great favourite with the lovers of a plaintive, clear, and mu- 

 sical song, and may in these respects be preferred to the 

 bullfinch, whose voice is softer, more lluto-like, but also 

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

 taught, is about the same.' 



Ring-blackbird, Meruht torquata,' Ring-ouzel or 

 Amzel of Ray, Merle au collier of the French, Merulo Al- 

 i of the Italians, Ringamsel, Ringel Amsel and Jtinn- 

 I of the Germans, Tttrdut torqiiutus. Linn., Merle <i 

 pftufnm blunt- of Buffon, is a periodical visitant, and. r n- 

 trary to the habits of its congcnrrs, such as the Field-fare 

 and Red-teing, arrives in spring, seeking the mount 

 and stony down-districts of Great Britain, where it breeds. 



The nest and eggs very much resemble tliose of the 

 blackbird in size and colour, and arc generally placed in 

 some bush or grass-tuft among the heath, and about the 

 rocks, on a shelf or in a cleft. When its young are hatched 

 it has no longer the shy character which, at other seasons, 

 renders it so difficult to be approached ; for it then Li 

 apparently bold, drawing the attention of the observer by 

 loud cries and extravagant gestures, in order to lead him 

 away from iu nest. On the approach of autumn it retires 

 southwards, and about the end of October leaves us for 

 warmer climates. In Sweden, France, and Germany it is 

 common. Bechstein gays, 'though it traverses the whole of 

 Europe, it builds only in the north.' Tcnuninck speaks of 

 it as rare in Holland. We liave searched in vain for it in 

 Prince Bonaparte'* Specchio C'umparativo but in Ray's 



ArlaMU (book ix. thj>. 1.) mtntk.u> the l,|t<. T . rWy rXii, 

 obtenrtBf that In die it it equal to tlie black, nud that iu role* U u> 

 aam, ' ll ftiyit,, It,, ;,;,,, HM> I ?.n ra;<-A*ri !!,..' Mr 

 add*, that It li band in A rr ,.!,-.. i, Ki>AX Tr.t A;)M, and i< 

 elM. Vam,<lf n Jhrtfcd (liouli Hi.).Mjri lhal white blackbird! ne non 

 'a public at Rome, with jairoU, &c. 



Willughby (book 2, p. 195.) there is the following pas- 

 sage. 'In a bird that I dc-<-ritd at Rome, the edges of 

 the prime feathers of the wings, as also of the covert fea- 

 thers of the head and wings were cinereous. The ring also 

 was not white but ash-coloured. I suppose this was cither 

 a young bird or a hen.' Montagu speaks of it is breeding 

 in some parts of Wales, on Dartmoor in Devonshire, and 

 near the 1-and's End in Cornwall, as well as in the north 

 of England and Scotland. The same author pays, that lie 

 has received it from the mountainous parts of Ireland. We 

 have seen it on Dartmoor in the breeding season ; and in tin- 

 spring of 1829 several were seen and somes hot ne;ir Bristol. 

 In the catalogue of Dorset birds, Ring-ouzels nre said to 

 appear in Portland (whrro they are called Michaflmat 

 blackbirds) when on their autumnal and spring flights. 

 Slaney says, ' Mr. White gives an account of hi- 

 of these birds in Hampshire, in October ; and we lia\<- 

 them near the Isle of Thanet, probably on their return 

 southward after rearing their young. They are said to 

 breed on Dartmoor, and in the Peak of Derbyshire : and 

 we have observed them among the heath on the Welch 

 mountains in July.' Sir W. Jardine speaks of their depre- 

 dations when they descend to the gardens from the moun- 

 tains previous to their migration to winter quarters, nnd 

 sa\s that they are known to the country people under the 

 title of ' mountain blackbirds.' 



Buffon observes, that they appeared in small flocks of 

 twelve or fifteen, about Montbard in Burgundy in the be- 

 ginning of October, seldom staying more than two or three 

 . and that the least frost made them disappear : but 

 at the same time he states, that Klein declares that the 

 birds had been brought alive to him in the middle of 

 winter, and that though they very rarely inhabit the i 

 of temperate Europe, M. Salerno asserts that their nests 

 have been found in Sologne and in the forest of Orleans. 



Pennant, who gives them the name Mvyalchen y i: 

 referring to Caraden, among his synonyms, says ' Ring- 

 ouzels inhabit the Highland hills, the north of England, and 

 the mountains in Wales. They are also found to breed in 

 Dartmoor, in Devonshire, in banks on the sides of streams. 

 I have seen them in the same situation in Wales, very cla- 

 morous when disturbed.' He further observes, 'The 

 of their retreat is not known ; those that breed in Wales 

 and Scotland never quitting these countries.' 



Latham, in a note to the last edition of Pennant savs, 

 ' This species is met with in the warmer and the colder 

 regions, as well in Africa as Asia ; but does not inhabit 

 either Russia or Siberia, though it is seen in Persia about 

 the Caspian Sea.' 



Buffon also gives it a wide geographical distribution. 







[Mrrtil 



The King -blackbird at l\inx-iiiizrl, is larsor than the 

 common blackbird. l.^iiL'tb. including the t.nl, abmit ten 



i half. Rill blackish-brown 

 an inch long, Kid yellowish at the base of the lower man- 





