s4 BLACKBIRD 
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HE male Blackbird is so familiar to everyone 
“lr who does not live in a large town that no 
description of it is necessary. The hen, however, with her 
browner plumage and spotted breast, is not uncommonly 
mistaken for a thrush. And as she grows older the breast 
and throat become lighter still, so that the resemblance 
is even closer. 
In this bird we have another of those mixed characters, 
partly friend and partly foe, of which there are so many among 
the feathered inhabitants of our islands. At times the Black- 
bird is very mischievous. It is very fond of gooseberries, for 
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