THE BLACKBIRD, 
145 
even apples and pears suffer much from them : as they are like- 
wise said to do in the county of Wexford. To the earlier fruits in 
a friend's garden near Belfast, these birds were so injurious in the 
summer of 1833, when they were particularly abundant, that he 
had recourse to the common rat-trap for their destruction. It 
was baited with currants, cherries, and early peas ; and although 
exposed to view,* forty of these birds soon fell victims to it, three 
thrushes at the same time sharing a similar fate. When a cherry 
and pear were placed on the trap, the former was always preferred. 
All of these birds but one were caught by the neck, thus proving 
that they were secured when in the act of pecking at the fruit. 
The large amount of good which the blackbird does, in the de- 
struction of snails and insects injurious to vegetation, is rarely 
considered as counterbalancing its frugivorous propensity. Nets 
to protect the fruit are certainly allowable ; but I should be sorry 
to bear evil intent against this handsome and lively bird, which 
renders us essential service, and is, besides, so sweet ft songster. 
The whole truth, however, respecting its proceedings, be they 
good or bad, must be told. On observing some plants in the Bel- 
fast Botanic Garden in January, 1837, that had been much injured 
by birds, I learned from the curator, that even in mild weather, 
he had seen blackbirds tearing up different species of saxifrage ; 
hardly a fragment remained of plants of Saxifmga jpedatifida 
and S. trifur cat a, though each had formed a round clump at 
least a yard in diameter. Beside these, a similarly large patch of 
S. Jiypnoides appeared untouched; but this species had been 
attacked in another part of the garden. In the present instance 
it was uninjured, apparently in consequence of forming a more 
compact mass, and its green surface foliage was, besides, so dense, 
that insects, &c., could hardly lodge beneath. Moss, covering 
the roots of trees here, was likewise much torn away, doubtless in 
the search for living objects. 
In our mountain glens, I observed, many years ago, during 
winter, tufts of the rein-deer lichen ( Cladonia rangiferinci) lying 
* For many species, such as the magpie, hooded crow, &c., the trap requires to be 
concealed, the bait only being visible. 
VOL. I. 
L 
