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and then attentively at a certain spot, and at length began to dig vehemently for another worm, 

 which it soon procured. This was the first time that I had closely watched a Blackbird while 

 searching for worms ; but I have since had repeated opportunities of convincing myself that it 

 always proceeds in the same manner, never swallowing an entire worm, unless it happen to be 

 extremely small, and cutting the very large ones into a great number of pieces. 



" ' Blackbirds with us,' writes my friend Mr. Archibald Hepburn, of Whittingham, in East 

 Lothian, ' greedily devour slugs, worms, and different sorts of berries and other fruits. They 

 seldom or never trust themselves free from the shelter of the hedge or bush ; but I have seen 

 Song-Thrushes feeding in the middle of a field nine acres in extent. They are also much wilder 

 than the Thrushes. If you wish to shoot one in a hedge row, unless you succeed at once, he will 

 lead you a wild-goose chase, and then fly off, wishing you better sport farther off. Blackbirds 

 seldom mob a cat, unless when they have young. When gooseberries are in season, you may see 

 them feeding from sunrise to sunset, except when they betake themselves to the pond to wash. 

 In the winter they disperse over the country, feeding on the different wild fruits in the hedges, 

 and on slugs and worms in the pastures. When hard-pressed for food during a snow-storm, they 

 frequent the stack-yard. The female sits thirteen days, the male singing till the young are 

 hatched, after which he is seldom heard till the labours of nidification again commence. On the 

 18th of October I heard a Blackbird sing, although in a very indistinct manner; but previously to 

 this, the last time I heard either this species or the Thrush, was about the middle of July.' 



" The sides of hedges and walls are favourite places of resort ; for there it readily procures 

 worms and snails. In hard weather it often eats the berries of the hawthorn, which it swallows 

 whole, and betakes itself to the corn-yards, where it picks up seeds chiefly on the ground. When 

 searching for food, it hops or leaps with great alacrity, keeping its tail a little raised, and its 

 wings loose ; and when perched on a tree, twig, or wall, it generally elevates its tail, unless 

 disposed to doze, in which case it draws in its neck, ruffles its plumage, tucks up its wings, and 

 allows the tail to droop. When disturbed, it flies off uttering a loud chuckling noise, which, 

 although clear and shrill, reminds you of the chatter of the Magpie ; and you may pursue it from 

 one part of a hedge to another, until you obtain it ; for it seldom shifts to a great distance. 

 Although thus easily procured, it is yet decidedly shy, and in this respect differs greatly from the 

 Song-Thrush, which imagines itself secure at a very short distance. 



" The flight of the Blackbird over an open space is steady, without undulations, but along 

 the hedges is wavering and fitful ; and the bird suddenly darts into the place which it selects, and 

 instantly settles. During the breeding-season its flight is peculiar ; ■ for then the female especially 

 moves through the air as if by starts, performing a single flap, followed by a considerable 

 interval, and then continuing its course. The Missel-Thrush, the Fieldfare, and the Redwing 

 frequently take long flights, and are often seen advancing at the height of several hundred yards ; 

 but the Blackbird rarely ventures on a long excursion, but prefers skulking, as it were, among the 

 hedges and trees. Compared with the Song-Thrush, it is a very lively bird ; and it is amusing to 

 observe one that has just alighted on a twig, and see how gracefully it bends forward, throws up 

 its tail, jerking it at intervals, depresses and at intervals flaps its wings, and then perhaps flits to 

 another branch, where it performs the same motions, or alights on the wall, hops along, suddenly 

 stops, jerks its tail, flaps its wings, and then commences singing. 



