THE BLACKBIRDS. 251 



the Arctic Circle, about 67 N. lat., but it has not yet been 

 found in Northern Russia, where its range is said to be bounded 

 by the valley of the Volga. Further east, in Turkestan, Afghani- 

 stan, and Cashmere, its place is taken by a larger race, Merula 

 maxima, which has a wing of 5^ or 6 inches. 



Habits. Except in spring-time, when the Blackbird is seen 

 and heard more frequently than at other times of the year, it 

 is a shy and retiring bird, seeking its food among the dead 

 leaves in thickets and hedgerows, or inhabiting the evergreen 

 shrubberies. Its well-known chattering note as it flies away, 

 when startled, is familiar to everyone, as also are the beautiful 

 flute-like notes, which are heard on all sides at the commence- 

 ment of the nesting season. In England the Blackbird does 

 not seem to be found so much in the centre of the towns as it 

 is in some of the Continental cities, but it is a frequent denizen 

 of the suburbs, and may often be seen in the London parks. 

 It is to a certain extent migratory even in England, and large 

 numbers come from the Continent every autumn, while on the 

 south coast we have noticed many together in September, 

 evidently about to cross the Channel, and we have seen at 

 least a dozen fly out of a little patch of reeds in a ditch, where 

 they had been feeding in company. With such exceptions, the 

 Blackbird cannot be called gregarious, and, as a rule, each bird 

 seems to feed on its own account, and flies off separately, when 

 disturbed. 



The food of the Blackbird consists chiefly of insects and 

 worms, but it also devours numbers of small snails, breaking 

 the shells by repeated blows against a stone or on the ground. 

 It is also a well-known pilferer of fruit, and undoubtedly does 

 some damage in this respect, a crime which is never atoned for 

 in the eyes of the gardener by the good which it does in 

 destroying numbers of grubs and insects during the rest of the 

 year. To the ordinary individual, however, the sight of the 

 bird and the pleasure of hearing its tuneful song at all hours 

 of the day, amply atone for any harm which it may do in the 

 fruit-gardens, and we know several friends who will not have 

 the birds disturbed or their nests harried in their grounds, 

 holding that they are welcome to some of the fruit, in return 

 for the charm which their presence affords. In a circumscribed 



