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BLACKBIRD 
Turdus merula, 
Meruiu ouiyaHs , 
Pennant. Montagu. 
Selby. Gould. 
Turdus — A Thrush. 
Merula —A Blackbird. 
Though sober and unpretending in plumage, yet, as thor¬ 
oughly associated with every sylvan scene, the Blackbird 
must always be, as doubtless he always has been, one of our 
most favourite birds. When the ground is covered with snow, 
that of the day as white, as Aristotle says, as that which 
has lain congealed for a thousand years, then is our bird seen 
to the greatest advantage, a sable beauty indeed, black as 
ebony itself, the dazzling white contrasting well with his dark 
garb, and each in turn setting off and heightening the 
appearance of the other. 
From the northern parts of Europe—Sweden and Norway, 
its range extends over the whole of the European continent, 
through Germany, where it remains throughout the year, and 
Greece, Switzerland, and France, to the north of Africa, and 
thence to the Azores. In Asia it is also common—in Syria 
and other parts. 
It is found in greater or less plenty in all parts of England, 
Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and 
Shetland. In the Orkneys it breeds, but not in great numbers, 
being the most abundant there in winter. In the Hebrides, 
and any particularly barren districts of the north, it is said 
not to breed. 
It frequents gardens, both walled and others, groves and 
shrubberies, hedgerows and copses, moist places in woods, 
marshy grounds, tangled brakes, the sides of walls, and the 
margins of streams, especially if bordered by wood, in more 
or less abundance. 
It is with us a permanent resident, affecting the more 
