THE BLACKBIRD. 
711 
with its song. I also admire the bird for its cunning, 
cheerfulness, vivacity and joyousness, and, above all, for 
its rich, flute-like song, which rings for such a distance 
through the wood. On this account I never shoot it,— 
not even for the table, in spite of its delicate flavour. 
The Blackbird does us no harm,—on the contrary, a 
great deal of good: it cheers the human heart with its 
strains even before the spring is with us; it enlivens and 
adorns both grove and garden; wherefore then persecute 
it ? It has enemies enough in the shape of vermin ! 
