MISCELLANY. 
165 
town. Another specimen was shot near the town in the Winter, by Mr. Cham¬ 
bers. — Id. 
The Blackbird’s song. —It is not in the wild valley, flanked with Birchen 
slopes and stretching far away among the craggy hills, that the music of the 
Blackbird floats upon the evening breeze. There you may listen delighted to 
the gentle song of the Mavis; but here, in this plain, covered with corn-fields 
and skirted with gardens, sit thee down on the green turf by the gliding brook, 
and mark the little black speck stuck as it were upon the top twig of that tall 
Poplar. It is a Blackbird, for now the sweet strain, loud, but mellowed by dis¬ 
tance, comes upon the ear, inspiring pleasant thoughts, and banishing care and 
sorrow. The bird has evidently learned his part by long practice, for he sings 
sedately and in full consciousness of superiority. Ceasing at intervals, he renews 
the strain, varying it so that although you can trace an. occasional repetition of 
notes, the staves are never precisely the same. You may sit an hour or longer, 
and yet the song will be continued ; and in the neighbouring gardens many rival 
songsters will sometimes raise their voices at once, or delight you with alternate 
strains. And now what is the purpose of all this melody ? We can only conjecture 
that it is the expression of the perfect happiness wffiich the creature is enjoying, 
when, uncarked by care, conscious of security, and aware of the presence of his 
mate, he instinctively pours forth his soul in joy and gratitude and love. He does 
not sing to amuse his mate, as many have supposed, for he often sings in Winter, 
when he is not yet mated; nor does he sing to beguile his solitude, for now he is 
not solitary; but he sings because all his wants are satisfied, his whole frame 
glowing with health, and because his Maker has gifted him with the power of 
uttering sweet sounds.— MacGillivray’s History of British Birds. 
Management of Bees. —A public lecture was delivered a few weeks since, in 
the Guildhall, Hereford, by Mr. Thomas Nutt, whose management of Bees has 
been so successful. After an introductory essay on the natural history of the 
Honey Bee, the lecturer exhibited an apiary constructed in accordance with his 
plan, and also a common cottage hive. He said that he was open to conviction; 
and if the opponents to his system would show one of more simplicity and equal 
efficacy, he promised to become an early convert. He then went on to show, 
that, so far from there being a necessity for destroying a colony of Bees in order 
to take the honey, such cruel practice was positively bad economy. The past 
season had been particularly unfavourable to Bees; the neighbourhood of this city 
bore testimony of the fact; but the loss of so many hives was to be attributed 
more to the bad management of the apiarian than to the unfavourableness of the 
weather. He would endeavour to show, from his personal experience, an easy 
and honourable way of obtaining the treasure of the Bees, without either 
destroying them or their works. Mr. Nutt described the impossibility of pro- 
