552 



BLACK ADDEU BLACKBIRD. 



dominions on the east hy Mingreli:i ;iiui Curiel, on 

 tin- Miuih by Natolia, being connected wiili UK- .Me- 

 diterranean by the llo-phonis. and, hy tin- Cimmerian 

 Bosphorus, wiih the sea oi" .Woph (ij. v.), which is. 

 in fact, only a Iwy of tin- Hlack Ma. The an ;i of the 

 Black sea ami the sea of A/oph ainuiiius to about 

 297,000 square miles. The water is not so clear as 

 that of the Mediterranean, and, on account of tin- 

 many lar^e r.\ir* \\li.cli tall into it, the Danube, 

 Dniester, Dnieper, Don, ami Cuban, being less salt, 

 freezes more readily. The tempests on this sea are 

 tremendous, us the hind, which confines its agitated 

 waters, gives to them a kind of whirling motion. In 

 the winter, it is M > hoistcrous, particularly near the 

 coast from the Danube to the Crimea, that it is 

 scarcely navigable, even by the most experienced 

 sailors. The chief current runs from the shallow s, a 

 of Azopli, from north to south, to the Thracian Bos- 

 plmrus aiul the I lellespont. The Black sea contains 

 no islands ; there is one, however, in the Cimmerian 

 Bosphorus. The fisheries in the sea of Azoph and 

 the Black sea are not unimportant, various kinds of 

 valuable fish, both large and small, being taken ; 

 .imonu others, several species of sturgeon. Seines 

 are used, iii which 60,000 fishes are sometimes caught 

 within six hours ; but there are never many large 

 onc*s among them. Caviare (q. v.) is also made on 

 the coast, as well as fish-glue, fish-oil, and, from the 

 spawn of the sea mullet, botargo ; the latter, how- 

 ever, only in small quantity. The salt and smoked 

 mackerel form an important article of the commerce 

 of the Crimea. Raoul-Rochette has published, in 

 Paris, 1822, a work on the remarkable Grecian an- 

 tiquities on the northern shore of the Pontus, which 

 has been corrected and completed by the Russian 

 counsellor Peter von Koppen, Vienna, 1823. Quite 

 recently, Mr von Blaramberg, director of the museum 

 established at Odessa and at Kertch, has discovered 

 many interesting remains in tin's quarter. See Cri- 

 inea. 



BLACKADDER, John, a distinguished preacher among 

 the Scottish covenanters, was born in the year 1615. 

 Having been duly licensed by the presbyterian church, 

 then in its highest purity and most triumphant domina- 

 tion, he received a call, in 1652, to the parish-church 

 of Troqueer, in the neighbourhood of Dumfries. In 

 1662, the episcopal form of church-government was 

 forced by the restored house of Stuart upon a people 

 who were generally repugnant to it. Mr Blackadder, 

 so far from complying with the new system, employed 

 himself for several successive Sundays in exposing 

 what he considered its unlawfulness, and, in his own 

 words, entered his " dissent in heaven " against it. 

 He, and some of his brethren, were conducted in 

 honourable captivity to the capital, where he under- 

 went some examinations, but was speedily released, 

 by the interest of his friends. He was now, however, 

 obliged to demit his charge, in favour of an episcopal 

 incumbent, and went with his wife and numerous 

 family to reside atCaitloch, in the parish of Glencairn, 

 a wilder and more central part of the stewartry of 

 Kirkcudbright. Here he soon attracted the attention 

 of the authorities by the crowds which he collected to 

 hear his occasional sermons, and he was therefore 

 obliged to remove. For some years after this period, 

 he appears to have wandered through the country, 

 preaching whenever he could find a proper opportu- 

 nity. In 1670, having performed worship at a con- 

 venticle near Dunfermline, where the people had 

 armed themselves for self-defence, he was summoned 

 before the privy council, but contrived to elude their 

 power, and when the search was a little slackened; he 

 renewed his practice of itinerant preaching. On one 

 occasion, he preached at Kinkell, near St Andrews : 

 the people flocked from the metropolitan city to 



hear him, notwithstanding nil (lie injunctions and 

 siin'cillunce of archbishop aharpe, It is said, that, on 

 Siiarpe desiring the provost to send out the militia to 

 disperse the congregation, lie was informed that it 

 wa< impossible the militia had gone already as wor- 

 shippers, in 1680, he made a voyage to Holland, and 

 settled his son at Leyden, as a student of medicine. 

 After spending several months in Holland, he return- 

 ed to Scotland, and, in the succeeding year, was ap- 

 prehended, ami confined in the state prison upon the 

 Bass. He remained here for four years, when at 

 length his health declined so much, on account of the 

 insalubrious nature of his prison, that his friends made 

 interest to procure his liberation upon the plea that he, 

 must otherwise sink under his malady. 'The govern- 

 ment at first mocked him with a proposal to transfer 

 him to Haddington orDunbar jail, but at length, on 

 a more earnest, and better attested remonstrance, 

 offered to give him liberty to reside in Edinburgh, 

 under a bond for five thousand merks. Ere this ten- 

 der mercy could be made available, he died in his 

 islet prison, December, 1685, having nearly com- 

 pleted his seventieth year. See Crichton's Life of 

 Blackadder, 1823, 12mo. 



BLACKBIRD ; a trivial name applied to birds of dif- 

 ferent species, and distinct genera, but properly be- 

 longing to a species of the genus qviscalus, as restricted 

 by prince C. L. Bonaparte, di Musignano, the latest 

 and most accurate writer on ornithological nomencla- 

 ture. The true blackbirds are either of a rich, glossy 

 black, showing metallic reflections, purple, or ferru- 

 ginous; being altogether free from maculation. 

 The kinds improperly called blackbird, such as the 

 mining, cowbird, &c., have bright colours, and are 

 species of icterus or troupial. 



All the blackbirds are gregarious and migratory, 

 diffusing themselves in vast flocks, from south to 

 north ; returning thence as the cold season ap- 

 proaches. They build their nests in trees, socially, 

 and lay about five eggs. The young are unlike the 

 adult birds. 



Three species of blackbird are known in the Unit- 

 ed States ; among these, the great crow-blackbird (Q. 

 major, Viel.), is the largest, and, as its name implies, 

 strongly resembles, in all respects, the mischievous 

 plunderer of our cornfields. The male is sixteen 

 inches long, having a most glossy black plumage ; 

 the tail is cuneiform, and, when the wings are folded, 

 they extend nearly five inches beyond it. The fe- 

 male is of a light brown colour, whitish beneath, and 

 twelve and a half inches long. This species is found 

 in the Southern States of America, principally along 

 the sea coast : it also inhabits Mexico, and is said to 

 be common in the West Indies. 



The rusty grakle, or blackbird, is nine inches long. 

 Its migrations extend from the south, where it win- 

 ters, to as far north as within the arctic circle, 

 where it breeds. According to Pennant, they arrive 

 in the vicinity of Hudson's bay about the beginning 

 of June, when the ground is sufficiently thawed to 

 allow them access to the grubs and worms, upon 

 which they chiefly feed. They sing finely until they 

 have ceased laying, and when the young are fledged, 

 they again resume their song. Their nests are 

 formed of moss and grass, and placed in trees about 

 eight feet from the ground. They pass through the 

 Middle States of America, on their northern tour, 

 early in April : in September, they collect in vast 

 flocks, to seek their winter quarters in the south. 



The purple grakle, lesser or common crow-blackbird 

 (Q. versicolor, Viel.), is the most notorious of these 

 sable plunderers. On their first arrival in the Middle 

 States of America, from the south, which is in the 

 latter part of March, they come in scattered flocks, 

 and are most frequent in swamps, meadows, and 



