238 BRITISH BIRDS. 



at Arcachon, where both the Blackbird and the Song -Thrush winter in some 

 numbers, it was especially noticeable that^ whilst the latter were generally 

 seen in the loftiest pines, the former were exclusively found in the under- 

 wood, which there consists of furze, broom, and heath, the latter frequently 

 attaining a height of from six to ten feet. As a rule. Blackbirds are 

 extremely sedentary birds, rarely make excursions to any distance, and for 

 weeks, nay, whole seasons, regularly frequent one locality. The Blackbird's 

 flights are almost entirely restricted to those taken from or to its feeding- 

 grounds, should they not be immediately adjoining its haunts. From the 

 shrubberies to the gardens it regularly passes, especially in early morning 

 and in the dusk of the evening ; yet the bird is apparently always in a 

 hurry, and anxious to reach the shelter and seclusion of its haunt as soon 

 as possible. 



There is no reason to think that the Blackbird is migratoiy in the 

 British Islands. Many birds shift their quarters, either from the colder 

 districts and those parts of the uplands which they haunt in summer, or 

 they quit the open fields when the hedgerows are rendered bare by the 

 wintry blasts ; but the bird is not a migrant in the accepted meaning 

 of the word. In severe winters, however, the numbers of our resident 

 birds are perceptibly increased by birds from the continent driven south 

 by stress of weather. On Heligoland, that interesting little island, of all 

 other places the best for observing the annual movements of the bird world, 

 the Blackbird is regularly obtained on spring and autumn migration, clearly 

 demonstrating the fact that the species is, at all events, a migratory one 

 in the northern portions of its range. 



Morning and evening are the times when the Blackbird usually seeks 

 his food ; and then you can study his graceful attitudes and sprightly 

 bearing to perfection. In spring and summer it is, for the most part, 

 obtained from the grass-lands — the lawns and pastures near his haunts. 

 At the morning's dawn, or when the sun is well down in the west, 

 you can observe them with ease. One by one you may see them fly 

 rapidly out of the dense shrubbery or wood and alight amongst the grass. 

 They remain motionless for a few seconds after alighting, with legs at a 

 graceful angle, neck arched, head turned slightly aside, as if they were 

 listening intently, and tail almost at right angles to the body ; for these 

 birds, like Ring-Ouzels and ]\Iagpies, always elevate their tails upon 

 alighting. They crouch low amongst the herbage, thus presenting an 

 appearance the very model of easy though wary gracefulness and beauty. 

 Few birds are more shy vrhile feeding than the Blackbird ; and the instant 

 he is alarmed, he either crouches lower to the ground or retires into the 

 fastnesses whence he came. The Blackbird most frequents the pastures 

 in the morning and at evening — when the small white snails occur in 

 largest numbers, and the earthworms come nearer to the surface of the 



