6 
They remain motionless for а 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 mi 
body; for these birds, like Ring-Ouzels and Magpies, 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 while 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. Тһе Blackbird most frequents the pastures in the morning and evening—when the small 
white snails occur in largest numbers, and the earthworms come nearer to the surface of the ground 
or crawl out completely. Ап animating and interesting sight, indeed, it is to watch him seek his 
meal. As soon as he alights he pauses a moment, then hops quickly forward and begins to dig for 
a worm, or snatches a snail from the grass-stem. Then another pause with his head erect, then a 
few more rapid hops forward, and again he renews the digging motions, drawing the worms from 
their hiding-places, and, if they be too large to swallow whole, breaking them in pieces. Now he 
is tugging away at some tenacious worm, now exploring the heaps of manure in search of insects, 
every now and then pausing in his labours to look warily around. Іп this manner the birds will 
advance a hundred yards or more from their cover; but should any one of them utter its alarm-notes, 
the whole party seek shelter, leaving the pasture in a straggling train, the boldest birds sometimes 
tarrying until you approach them within gunshot. But all the Blackbird's food is not obtained from 
the pastures. Lurking amongst the hedgerows are numerous snails inhabiting prettily-marked shells ; 
these the Blackbird breaks by dashing them against a stone or even the hard ground. Insects and 
grubs are also eaten, and in autumn the berries of the mountain-ash, wild rose, and elder, and 
also wild fruits, as raspberry, blackberry, and sloe. Тһе Blackbird is also, to some extent, a 
graminivorous bird, and will feed on grain and various seeds. The bird’s love for fruit also makes 
him but a poor favourite with the gardener, who is ever on the alert to kill him for the cherries, 
currants, gooseberries, and peas that he pilfers in the season. But the bird’s thefts in fruit-time 
are amply repaid by the amount of undoubted good he does at other times of the year in ridding 
the garden and the orchard of many of their unwelcome pests. A little watching in the fruit- 
season is all that is necessary. His good deeds amply repay his little pilferings; and his sprightly 
form and tuneful song should be far more highly valued than a handful of fruit. 
“In autumn the Blackbird is often found in the turnip-fields, seeking the snails and worms 
which abound so plentifully in the damp loose soil under the broad leaves. In such numbers do 
the birds congregate that it is no uncommon thing to flush a dozen of them on an acre of turnips. 
Here they are flushed with difficulty, as they always prefer to run under the leaves rather than to take 
wing, unless absolutely compelled to do so. In winter the Blackbird's table is the hawthorn, whose 
berries form its favourite food. At this season of the year it also eats the berries of the misseltoe 
and the ivy; yet always, when the frost is absent, it frequents the grass-lands, manure-heaps, and 
little water-courses in search of the various insects on or near them. 
“The song of the Blackbird is first heard in the latter part of February, and continues with 
undiminished power until the end of May, but his notes are on the wane throughout June; and 
in July his mellow pipe is hushed during the autumnal moult until the advent of the following 
spring. Though rich and full in tone it possesses little variety; but still the Blackbird’s melody is 
one of the finest of all known birds’; for what it lacks in variation it makes up in compass and 
richness of tone. Early morning, about sunrise, and after five o’clock in the evening, in the latter 
part of April, are perhaps the times when the Blackbird’s powers of song are heard to best advantage. 
On the topmost twig of some lofty oak tree, or hid away amongst the foliage of the lower branches, 
he will sit in the dusk of early morning and warble his wild flute-like song, which floats gently on 
the still cool air, as he greets the now glowing eastern sky, and later the rising sun. Then again in 
