228 The Blackbird. 



at right angles into cover a habit which always 

 attracts attention to it. Where, however, through 

 living in much-frequented places, it is not liable 

 to sudden alarms, its shy habits render it less 

 observable than the bolder thrush. 



The song of the blackbird, though wonderfully 

 rich and mellow, has bat little variety, and is, in 

 our opinion, poor in comparison with that of the 

 thrush. The bird begins to sing early in the 

 spring, and continues his song, with short intervals 

 of silence, throughout the summer, singing his 

 best early in the morning and in the evening. The 

 song, unlike that of many other birds, has not, so 

 far as we are aware, ever been put into words. 



The blackbird is an early breeder so early, 

 indeed, that during the abnormally warm weather 

 in December last several cases of blackbirds 

 nesting were recorded, the birds evidently being 

 deluded into the belief that spring had begun. 

 The nest is a most solid structure of roots, grass, 

 and clay, carefully lined with fine dry grass, the 

 whole forming a wonderful protection from the 

 weather; but occasionally such extraordinary 

 substances as paper or rags enter into its com- 

 position, and Frank Buckland recorded and pub- 

 lished an illustration of one which was festooned 

 with pieces of lace, some of which were worked in 

 and out throughout it. It is usually placed in a 

 thick low bush, by preference an evergreen, but 

 now and then a high tree is chosen, and cases 

 have been known where the nest has been built 



