534 CLASS AVES. 



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 ever}'^ 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 specimens 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 Rinrj-Ouzel (T. Torquatus) is decidedly a different 

 species from the last. To say nothing of the plumage, &c., 

 its habits and manners are different ; its usual cry is cr, cr, cr. 

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

 bird, 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 parti- 

 cularly seeks hedges, where ivy is abundant, of the berries of 

 which it is especially fond. It is seen regularly enough in the 

 months of April and October, on the mountains in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Rouen. It sometimes remains there during the 

 entire summer, but very rarely. 



These blackbirds appear to travel in families only, for sel- 

 dom 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. 



