302 BRITISH SONG BIRDS. 



a looseness, put some mould full of ants' eggs at the bottom of 

 his cage, and grate a small quantity of Cheshire cheese or chalk 

 amongst his victuals ; a blade of saffron and a little piece of stick- 

 liquorice in his water will be of good service in clearing his voice and 

 causing him to sing freely and powerfully. The cage may have 

 perches, as the woodlark does not always roost on the ground. 



THE BLACKBIKD. 



This is the " ouzel-cock with 

 golden bill" so often mentioned 

 in our old ballad poetry, and 

 pleasant it is to hear him 

 often as early as February, 

 reminding us with his song 

 that spring is nearer than it 

 was, the days longer, and 

 that the pretty primroses in 

 warm sheltered places are beginning to show their pale golden- 

 coloured flowers. During the first year, the males bear so close 

 a resemblance to the females, that those only who are well 

 versed in "birdship" can distinguish the difference, as it is not until 

 the second year that the male shows his golden bill. The blackbird 

 is a dusky gentleman of rather solitary habits, and excepting the 

 society of his dark lady, cares very little for company, but is very 

 much given to musing and singing in gloomy woods and close-woven 

 thickets through which some stream flows, for it must be near 

 water. In its wild state it feeds on berries, fruits, insects, and 

 worms, and hardly anything seems to come amiss to it. He has 

 been heard to imitate part of the song of the nightingale and even 

 the crowing of the farm-yard cock, and seeming to enjoy the fun. 

 Blackbirds pair early in the spring, and the first young are often 

 hatched by the end of March ; they have usually two or three broods 

 a year, and lay from four to six eggs of a greenish colour, spotted and 

 streaked with brown. When the young are hatched, the males are 

 said to be blacker in tint than the females, and therefore, as some 

 eu; ' ^e, very easily distinguished. If you wish to teach the birds 

 to whistle airs, you must take them when the quill feathers are just 

 beginning to appear, for they are easily reared on white bread soaked 

 in milk, a little lean raw beef, and a few worms dipped in water. 

 The most suitable food for these birds, when mature, is bread, meat, 

 either raw, boiled, or roasted, and woodlark' s food, with the addition 

 of a little bit of apple sometimes. 



The cage for blackbirds should be large 

 and roomy; the old-fashioned peak- topped 

 wicker cage is so generally known, that it 

 is useless giving a representation of it ; but 

 the annexed figure shows an improved plan 

 for a cage, in which the rough, homely 

 wicker is blended with polished mahogany; 

 the top of the cage is gabled, and that and 

 the back are of wood, the two sides and 



