B L A C K li 1 R D. 
TURDUS MERULA. 
A RESIDENT in every part of tlie eountry where suitable woods or cover can lie found, the Blackbird is common 
from north to south. Large numbers of migrants from across the North Sea also reach our eastern coasts early 
in the autumn, and continue to land for several months. I have observed the fields in the cast of Ross-shire 
perfectly alive with freshly arrived birds about the middle of September ; and from the information gleaned 
from the crews of the liglit-ships, it is probable that Blackbirds pass over tbe North Sea, one way or the 
other, during most months of the year. 
In my notes for 1872 I find the following entries concerning the capture of Blackbirds on the light-ships 
off the east coast; — On the 20th of November I boarded the ‘Newarp,’ and learned that one female Blackbird 
had been secured during the gale that commenced on the 11th and continued almost without intermission 
till the 16th. On the lltli the wind blew in furious gusts, with squalls of rain from north-north-east. On 
the 12th the wind w^as east-north-east ; 13th east ; 14th cast-north-east with hail-squalls ; 15th, after a lull 
in the early morning, it came on to blow harder than ever from the east-north-east ; on the 16th blowing 
hard from east-south-east, with occasional blinding snow-squalls. But few birds had flown during this storm, 
six only having fallen on board, two of which were Petrels. During November and December, and up to the end 
of January 1873, but one Blackbird alighted on the ‘Leman and Ower.’ Early in March a single bird was 
captured on the ‘ Dudgeon and during this month and the first week in April two more were taken on 
the ‘Lynn Well.’ On visiting the ‘Newarp’ again on August 9th, I found on board the wings of five 
Blackbirds, being the total number that had struck the lights since the end of March. 
I did not recognize the Blackbird on the Outer Ilebrides ; but on the Bass Rock and the Isle of May 
several have come under my notice. To the May, I helieve, the birds are only occasional visitors ; but on 
the Bass there are in some seasons a nest or two among the old fortifications or tlie broken face of the cliff on 
the east side. When carefully searching the crumbling Avails, known to the frequenters of the rock as the 
ruins of the Governor’s house, to ascertain if Thrushes had bred there, I came across the remains of at least 
half a dozen Blackbirds’ nests in the summer of 1874: having been built in sheltered nooks and crevices of 
the masonry, several years would probably elapse before the old structures fell to pieces. On one occasion, 
while watching a fine old male conveying food among the buildings, I discovered his nest snugly placed in 
an old chimney. 
In a garden near Brighton I noticed, in 1880, two Blackbirds (they could scarcely be termed a pair) 
construct no less than five nests during the season. In every instance the nests Avere placed in a thick bush 
of Oupressus macrocarpa. The first brood, Avhcn about a week old, early in March, Avero dragged out and 
killed by a cat. On Saturday, May 1st, the second brood died in the nest through exposure to the cold east 
Avinds, and on the folloAving Monday the third nest AA^as commenced. On the 12th the old male Avas 
unfortunately caught in a cat-trap (set for their especial preseiwation), and so badly nipped that death must 
