BLACKBIRD. 4! 



said to be continuous, whilst that of the latter consists 

 of from six or seven to ten syllables, followed by a pause 

 of a minute or more. The song of the Thrush also 

 possesses far more variety than that of the Blackbird, 

 which seldom embraces more than a dozen cadences ; 

 on the other hand, it is more shrill and less powerful, for 

 the Blackbird may be heard a mile off. " Of all famed 

 bird songs, probably the Blackbird's is the least perfect 

 and the most delightful." Hudson. On the whole, I 

 must confess that the Blackbird is my favourite, and 

 has been from the days when, a happy child, it was my 

 delight to pourtray his sable form with pen and ink in 

 an incredibly short time, as mentioned elsewhere. 



The Blackbird's sweetest song is often poured forth 

 during an April shower ; and he has even been seen to 

 sit and -sing during a thunder-storm. It must be con- 

 fessed, however, that there are Blackbirds and Black- 

 birds, the song of some being very inferior to others. I 

 have heard a Blackbird I presume a young one 

 repeat over and over again the same ditty, apparently 

 knowing no other. And I have noticed in a Blackbird 

 at Elm Park a decided progress in his song, that of one 

 year being a considerable improvement upon the pre- 

 ceding. In England, where Blackbirds and Thrushes 

 have the advantage of hearing the Nightingale's song, it 

 is believed that their own minstrelsy is refined and 

 enlarged by the addition of notes and phrases borrowed 

 from the queen of songsters ; and this is not to be won- 

 dered at, as all our great musicians are more or less 

 mocking-birds, and gifted with the imitative faculty. 

 The Blackbird, for instance, has been known to crow 

 like a cock. 



