142 



HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



toned warbler of the woods; but it is rather 

 unpleasant in a cage, being loud and deafen- 

 ing. It lays four or five bluish eggs, in a 

 nest usually built at the stump of some old 



have plenty of water, which contributes uot a little to 

 their gaiety. Their moulting commences at the end of 

 summer, and is so complete, that some are frequently 

 seen at that period with the head entirely divested of 

 feathers. At this epoch they cease to sing, and, gener- 

 ally, near its termination they proceed to migrate. Some 

 few, however, are observed to remain the winter: they 

 then inhabit hedges and the thickest woods, seeking 

 those where there are warm springs and evergreen 

 trees, as much for a shelter from the cold, as for the 

 purpose of procuring sustenance. They come at this 

 season into gardens, and feed on snails ; they even seek 

 them in the holes of walls, and know very well how to 

 break the shell and extract the animal. Their flesh is 

 considered very delicate during the vintage time in wine 

 countries, and is as much in request as that of thrushes; 

 but it grows bitter when they feed only on juniper- 

 berries, ivy-berries, and other such fruits. It is said to 

 have some medicinal properties, and to be good in fluxes 

 and dysenteries. Nevertheless, ulcerated and hemorr- 

 hoidal patients should abstain from it ; the oil in which 

 blackbirds are cooked is much recommended by foreign 

 physicians, in cases of sciatica; and the dung of these 

 birds, dissolved in vinegar, is said to clear the skin, and 

 disperse redness and blotches, if constantly used. 



Though these birds are very distrustful and subtle, 

 they give easily into the snares that are laid for them, 

 provided the fowler be invisible. A method of taking 

 them, well known to shepherds and the inhabitants of 

 the country, consists in making a little hole in the 

 ground, about five inches broad, eight long, and nine 

 deep. In the bottom are placed various berries, or 

 earth-worms, attached to a little stick with a thread, or 

 transfixed through the body with long horns. If other 

 birds are wanted to be taken, grains and other aliments 

 are cast into the bottom of the hole, especially those of 

 which they eat in preference. They then take a piece 

 of turf, a tile, or a stone of the size of the hole, and 

 place them on a sort of figure of 4, so arranged on the 

 hole that the bird cannot come to the bait without touch- 

 ing the stick, and making the coverlet fall, which shuts 

 them up in the hole. To draw the blackbirds more 

 effectually, a tame one is sometimes fixed at the side of 

 the snare, either on a stick, or otherwise. This method 

 succeeds well in winter, when the birds are pressed for 

 food, and will go any where in search of it. 



Nothing so opposite as white and black ; yet we see 

 the first colour pass abruptly into the second, without 

 going through the intermediate shades. Blackbirds, 

 crows, and other birds of the same hue, present examples 

 of this every day. Among the accidental varieties of 

 this species, we find some completely white, including 

 even the bill and feet. Some have these parts yellow, 

 others have the bill red. Individuals have been ob- 

 served, whose entire plumage was of a yellowish-rose 

 colour, with the bill and feet yellow. On some speci- 

 mens the head alone is white, with three oblong black 

 spots placed behind the eyes; the iris, the beak, and the 

 feet are yellow. Others are varied with black and 

 white, in transversal spots on the upper parts, and 

 longitudinal underneath; some have the wings and tail 

 only as white as snow: all the rest of the plumage is a 

 fine black. Finally, young ones are sometimes seen 

 which have the alar and caudal quills white from their 

 origin, and for half their length. 



The Ring, Ouzel is decidedly a different, species from 

 the last. To say nothing of the plumage, &c., its habits 

 and mariners are different; its usual cry is cr, cr, cr. 

 In spring its song is less loud than that of the common 



hawthorn, well plastered on the inside with 

 clay, straw, and hair. 



Pleasing, however, as this bird may be, 

 the blue-bird, described by Bellonius, is in 



blackbird, and varied with sweet and melodious sounds. 

 It is a bird of passage with us, and is never seen but in 

 spring and autumn. It does not always pursue in its 

 migrations a regular route ; it usually follows the chains 

 of mountains, and particularly seeks hedges, where ivy 

 is abundant, of the berries of which it is especially fond. 

 It is seen regularly enough iu the months of April and 

 October, on the mountains in the neighbourhood of 

 Rouen. It sometimes remains there during the entire 

 summer, but very rarely. These blackbirds appear to 

 travel in families only, for seldom more than eight or 

 twelve are seen together. They do not quit the hedges, 

 and prefer those which are on the summit of mountains, 

 and on the borders of woods. In both seasons, their 

 passage does not continue for more than from fifteen to 

 twenty days ; for all this time they are excessively fat, 

 and their flesh is very delicate eating. These birds have 

 this peculiarity, that they are as fat in spring as in 

 autumn, while the reverse is altogether the case with the 

 other blackbirds and thrushes, and indeed with all other 

 small birds, which are very fat in autumn, and quite 

 lean in spring. Less distrustful than the common 

 blackbirds, the ouzels suffer themselves to be approached 

 without difficulty. It is said, however, that they are 

 not very easily caught in snares. Still it would appear 

 that they might be taken without much trouble in the 

 spider-nets that we have described ; as whenever they 

 are pursued they stick constantly to the hedges, prefer- 

 ring those which are in a right line, and quitting one 

 only, cast themselves into the succeeding. 



This species is common in all the high mountains of 

 England and Scotland, of Sweden, Auvergne, Savoy, 

 Switzerland, and Greece. It also inhabits the moun- 

 tain chain of the Vosges, where it nestles on the fir- 

 trees. It also places its nest at times, at a small dis- 

 tance from the ground, either on a rock covered with 

 bushes and large briars, or at the foot of a very thick 

 bush ; branches, roots of heath, and moss heaped to- 

 gether without order form the basis of the nest, the out- 

 side of which is furnished with thick weeds, and the 

 inside with clay mixed with filaments of roots and dried 

 leaves: fine and soft plants form the bed, on which the 

 female lays four eggs, of the same size and colour with 

 those of the common blackbird, but very remarkable for 

 the large reddish spots with which they are marked. 



The Rock-thrushes (as their name indicates) are in- 

 habitants of the rocks and mountains, and must be sought 

 for in the wildest and most solitary retreats: continually 

 on their guard, they do not hestitate to stand in exposed 

 places. They are frequently seen at some distance from 

 their haunts, perched on large stones ; but they are very 

 difficult to approach, and very rarely stop within range 

 of gun-shot. When they are advanced upon a little too 

 much, they are off to another stone, and always choose 

 one where they can have a full, commanding view of all 

 that surrounds them. These birds are not a bad eat- 

 able, but they are still more in estimation for their voice, 

 which is sweet and varied, approaching the tones of the 

 black-headed warbler. Their throat is so flexible, that 

 they quickly appropriate the song of other birds, and the 

 airs of music. A little before sunrise, and at sunset, 

 they utter the loudest sounds. During the day their 

 song amounts to little more than chirping; but in the 

 middle of the night, if their cage be approached with a 

 light, they begin to sing directly. The extreme dis- 

 trustfulness of these birds naturally leads them to choose 

 the most inaccessible places for the security of their 

 young family. They make their nests in the holes of 

 rocks and attach them also to the roofs of caverns. It is 



