BLACKBIRD. 
39 
which it commences early in the spring. The voice is infinitely more 
mellow than the thrush, but has much less variety, compass, or execu- 
tion ; he commences his song with the morning light, and continues it 
from hour to hour without effort. 
“ When snow-drops die, and the green primrose leaves 
Announce the coming flower, the merle’s note. 
Mellifluous, rich, deep- toned, fills all the vale, 
And charms the ravished ear. The hawthorn bush 
New budded, is his perch; there the grey dawn 
He hails ; and there, with parting light, concludes 
His melody. There, when the buds begin 
More richly full, melodious, he renews.” grahame.* 
It is esteemed an excellent cage bird, but not for tlie aviary, as it pur- 
sues and harasses the other birds. In a wild state it feeds on snails, (?) 
earth-worms, (?) spiders, insects, and wild berries; it is also very fond of 
cherries and pears. It remains with us throughout the year ; in winter 
it approaches houses and towns, and during severe storms it haunts the 
garden, coming close to the houses, and even to the windows, picking 
up crumbs of bread. 
It is an early breeder, and prepares a nest composed externally of 
green moss, fibrous roots, and other like materials ; the inside is plas- 
tered with earth and afterwards lined with dry grass ; the nest is usually 
placed in a thick bush, or against the side of a bank. 
* The materials used by the blackbird for the masonry of its nest being 
chiefly mud or clay, the workmanship is rude and unfinished, compared 
with the neat execution of the song thrush, with whose nest it is con- 
founded by Dr. Fleming and others. I have now before me six speci- 
mens of the former, in which the outer frame-work differs httle from 
that of the song thrush, except perhaps in being more massive, as is 
also the clay lining, which is put on in a very wet state, probably to save 
the saliva of the bird ; but to prevent this moisture from injuring the 
eggs, it is lined with a thick bedding of dry hay, which in some nests 
is very neatly worked into the hollow formed by the clay, while in 
others it is laid less skilfully, and hence the nest is rendered very shal- 
low. In two of the nests in my possession the masonry of the clay is 
carried round the branch of the bush where they were built, in order to 
make it fast, which circumstance, as it is not of usual occurrence, shows 
that the little architect was guided by intelligence akin to rationality, if 
not identical with it, and not by what is usually called blind instinct.^* 
‘ Architecture of Birds, page 131. 
