THE BLACKBIRDS. 
251 
the Arctic Circle, about 67° N. lat., but it has not vet been 
found in Northern Russia, where its range is said to be bounded 
by the valley of the Volga. Further east, in Turkestan, Afgha ni- 
stan, and Cashmere, its place is taken by a larger race, Merula 
maxima , which has a wing of 5 or 6 inches. 
Habits. — Except in spring-time, when the Blackbird is seen 
and heard more frequently than at other times of the year, it 
is a shy and retiring bird, seeking its food among the dead 
leaves in thickets and hedgerows, or inhabiting the evergieen 
shrubberies. Its well-known chattering note as it flies away, 
when startled, is familiar to everyone, as also are the beautiful 
flute-like notes, which are heard on all sides at the commence- 
ment of the nesting season. In England the Blackbnd does 
not seem to be found so much in the centre of the towns as it 
is in some of the Continental cities, but it is a frequent denizen 
of the suburbs, and may often be seen in the London parks. 
It is to a certain extent migratory even in England, and large 
numbers come from the Continent every autumn, while on the 
south coast we have noticed many together in September, 
evidently about to cross the Channel, and we have seen at 
least a dozen fly out of a little patch ol reeds in a ditch, where 
they had been feeding in company. With such exceptions, the 
Blackbird cannot be called gregarious, and, as a rule, each bird 
seems to feed on its own account, and flies off separately, when 
disturbed. 
The food of the Blackbird consists chiefly of insects and 
worms, but it also devours numbers of small snails, breaking 
the shells by repeated blows against a stone or on the giound. 
It is also a well-known pilferer of fruit, and undoubtedly does 
some damage in this respect, a crime which is never atoned for 
in the eyes of the gardener by the good which it does in 
destroying numbers of grubs and insects during the rest of the 
year. ' To the ordinary" individual, however, the sight of the 
bird and the pleasure of hearing its tuneful song at all hours 
of the day, amply atone for any harm which it may do in the 
fruit-gardens, and we know several friends who will not have 
the birds disturbed or their nests harried in their grounds, 
holding that they are welcome to some of the fruit, in return 
for the charm which their presence affords. In a circumscribed 
