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season is over, these birds, in Ayrshire, repair in great numbers to the sea-coast between Girvan 

 and Ballantrae, seeking shelter in hot days under blocks of stone and large flat rocks lying on the 

 beach. On one occasion I turned out eighteen Blackbirds from under a flat rock, resting on 

 broken stones, by poking them with a walking-stick. I have seen Sparrow-Hawks and Merlins 

 (apparently aware of this habit) hunting these rocks at midday, where the Blackbirds were all 

 concealed, but pertinaciously beating about in the neighbourhood, knowing their quarry to be 

 there, though unable in the mean time to dislodge it." Its range to the extreme north of 

 Scotland is established by Dr. Saxby, who, in a list of the birds of Shetland, published in the 

 Huddersfield ' Naturalist ' (vol. ii. p. 142), classes the present species among the winter visitants, 

 observing that it is " said to be of not unfrequent occurrence in the south of Shetland, but it 

 was certainly unknown in Uist until very lately." In the winter season the numbers of our 

 indigenous birds, at least on the eastern coast of Great Britain, are augmented by migrants ; for 

 Mr. Selby states that " about the beginning of November vast flocks of Blackbirds make their 

 appearance upon our coasts from more northern countries. They remain but a few days, to 

 recruit, and then resume their flight in a south-westerly direction;" and Mr. Stevenson also, in 

 the 'Birds of Norfolk,' says that "migratory specimens apparently arrive in the autumn." 



Nilsson says the Blackbird belongs more especially to the southern and central portions of 

 Scandinavia ; but it also occurs far to the northward, and is not only met with in the Wardale, 

 north of Trondhjem, but also in Lapland. Lovenhjelm found it up in Lycksele, Lapland, at the 

 foot of Issjak fell. In the north, however, it is very rare ; but in the south is found at all 

 seasons of the year, being in Skane even more numerous in winter than in summer. By 

 Sommerfeldt and Wheelwright the present species was not noticed in Lapland. Mr. R. Collett 

 states that it is " distributed over all Norway up to the Polar circle ; and the Messrs. Godman 

 found it nesting at Bodo above 67°. In the province of Trondhjem it breeds tolerably numerously, 

 both on the larger islands, such as Hitteren, and in the interior. It is particularly abundant 

 in the coast-districts of Christiansand and Bergen, but is scarcer in the eastern dales, as, for 

 instance, Gudbrandsdal, Valders, and OZsterdal. On the fell-sides it is no longer found in the 

 subalpine region. Individuals passing the winter with us may be seen annually on the coast up 

 to Trondhjemsfiord." We are informed by Mr. Alfred Benzon that, ' ; with the exception of 

 Turdus musicus, it is the commonest of the Thrushes that breed in Denmark, being in some 

 parts even more numerous than the Song-Thrush, though it is not so generally distributed as the 

 last-named species. Its migrations are the same as those of the Song-Thrush, and but few old 

 birds are found here in the winter." According to Von Wright it breeds very sparingly in 

 Southern Finland. He found them in families at Drumso, near Helsingfors, and on an island 

 near Borga. Dresser never succeeded in procuring or even seeing a single one in that country. 



Borggreve states that it is a resident and partial wanderer in the western part of Germany, 

 where it is common; in the east it is much less numerous, especially in the winter. In the 

 mountains it extends its range up to the vertical boundary of the forest. Dr. E. Key tells us 

 that it remains in the neighbourhood of Halle throughout the winter. Herr W. Schliiter has 

 sent us several specimens from different parts of Germany, showing that it is found all over 

 Central Europe. Herr A. von Pelzeln mentions specimens as being preserved in the Imperial 

 Cabinet at Vienna from different parts of the Austrian empire ; and in Styria, according to 



