THE BLACKBIRD. 237 



bird will also be found. In fact he follows man to the wilds as long as 

 sufficient vegetation exists to aflbrd him the seclusion which he loves. 



The Blackbird is especially fond of swampy places and the neighbourhood 

 of water. Wherever streams with well- wooded banks occur, there just as 

 surely Blackbirds will be found ; and in the little swampy corners of woods 

 and shrubberies they congregate, sometimes half a dozen birds taking wing 

 together at your approach. Yet the Blackbird is not gregarious ; and its 

 presence here in company with its kindred is explained by a common 

 purpose, the search for the food the swamps contain ; and each bird flits 

 off solitary as it came. 



Most birds become more or less vociferous at the approach of night, 

 and the Blackbird particularly so. As you wander through the shrubberies 

 in the evening, you will often hear a rustling noise amongst the withered 

 leaves under the shrubs and plants. A rustle and then a pause, another 

 more hasty movement, and at last a Blackbird dashes rapidly out, and, 

 uttering his loud harsh cry of alarm, flits oft" in unsteady flight and hastily 

 disappears again in the nearest cover. As the darkness deepens you have 

 good opportunity of watching their actions when retiring to rest. Conceal 

 yourself under the spreading branches of a dark gloomy yew tree and wait 

 patiently ; you will hear their loud cries in all directions, and catch occa- 

 sional glimpses of their dark forms flitting hither and thither in the gloom : 

 j)i/ik-j/nik-j)ink, tac-tac-tac, is heard on every side. Now a bird comes flut- 

 tering into the bush under which you are concealed, and his notes startle 

 you by their nearness. A short distance away another answers : another 

 and another in different directions also swell the noisy clamour; and you 

 hear on every side their fluttering wings amongst the evergreens around 

 you. As night comes on and all objects lose outline and distinct- 

 ness, the cries cease and the birds settle down to rest. A solitary 

 bird will, perhaps, dash past just fresh from the pasture-lands outside ; or 

 a frightened bird will utter his alarm-note as he shifts his quarters ; yet all 

 else is now silent, save indeed the few last evening notes of the Robin, or, 

 perhaps, the purr of the Goatsucker. 



The Blackbird is with difficulty flushed. It is a skulking bird, and 

 prefers to hop quickly under the hedgerows and brushwood rather than 

 take wing, its motions partaking more of those of a mouse or a rat than 

 of a bird. When compelled to take wing, its flight for a short distance is 

 remarkably unsteady. Turning and twisting from side to side, it dashes 

 quickly away, and, as a rule, just as suddenly and unexpectedly alights in 

 the nearest cover. Across an open place, however, the Blackbird flies 

 quite steadily, and his motion through the air is rapid. Rarely, indeed, 

 does the bird fly at any great height ; and should he be compelled to fly 

 far, he seems to prefer skulking along the hedgerows or close to the ground 

 from bush to bush rather than expose himself to view. In the pine-forests 



