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BLACKBIRD. 



Turdus merula, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



Merula culyaris, SELBY. GOULD. 



Turdus A Thrush. Merula A. Blackbird. 



THOUGH sober and unpretending in plumage, yet, as thor- 

 oughly associated with every sylvan scene, the Blackbird 

 must always be, as doubtless he always has been, one of our 

 most favourite birds. When the ground is covered with snow, 

 that of the day as white, as Aristotle says, as that which 

 has lain congealed for a thousand years, then is our bird seen 

 to the greatest advantage, a sable beauty indeed, black as 

 ebony itself, the dazzling white contrasting well with his dark 

 garb, and each in turn setting off and heightening the 

 appearance of the other. 



From the northern parts of Europe Sweden and Norway, 

 its range extends over the whole of the European continent, 

 through Germany, where it remains throughout the year, and 

 Greece, Switzerland, and France, to the north of Africa, and 

 thence to the Azores. In Asia it is also common in Syria 

 and other parts. 



It is found in greater or less plenty in all parts of England, 

 Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and 

 Shetland. In the Orkneys it breeds, but not in great numbers, 

 being the most abundant there in winter. In the Hebrides, 

 and any particularly barren districts of the north, it is said 

 not to breed. 



It frequents gardens, both walled and others, groves and 

 shrubberies, hedgerows and copses, moist places in woods, 

 marshy grounds, tangled brakes, the sides of walls, and the 

 margins of streams, especially if bordered by wood, in more 

 or less abundance. 



It is with us a permanent resident, affecting the more 



