BLACKBIRD. 
203 
—the cage was in a potatoe-garden, and he would fly to the 
low end of the garden and creep up the furrow, so that it 
was impossible to see him until he had finished his duty, 
when he flew off with great noise. The hen never appeared, 
and it was supposed she had been killed. To all that is 
here stated I was a witness.’ 
A chatter, somewhat resembling that of the Magpie, is 
frequently uttered, especially in the spring season, the wings 
being fluttered and the body bent forward at the same time, 
as if overbalanced; an advance is made, and the posture and 
the note repeated, particularly if the bird be alarmed or excited: 
he has also a ‘chink, chink.’ One has successfully imitated 
the song of the Nightingale: another the cawing of a Crow; 
and another attempted the chuckling of a Hen. One, which 
was kept tame in a house without being confined in a cage, 
has been known, when irritated, not only to peck with its 
bill, but to rise and strike with its claws, after the manner 
of a Cock. The Blackbird frequently scares away with loud 
cries, or at least endeavours to do so, any supposed enemy, 
even from the nests of other birds: ‘proximus ardet Ucalagon,* 
and he fears that his own turn may be the next. 
Edward D. Swarbreck, Esq., of Thirsk, writes me word that 
he has heard it sing on the morning of the 21st. of this last 
December, though the ‘shortest day,’ 1852. Such is the case 
at times in all the winter months, especially in calm and mild 
weather, whether clear or cloudy. The spring is his best 
‘season’ as a vocalist, and his voice is heard from the middle 
of February till the moulting-time in the autumn, though 
much less often after the young are hatched. Mr. Macgillivray 
heard one sing, though indistinctly, on the 18th. of October. 
In general it ceases about the middle or end of July, or tha 
beginning of August. It may be taught to whistle a variety 
of tunes, and to imitate the human voice. The ordinary note 
is a chattering cry, which it almost invariably utters when 
alarmed to take wing. 
The Blackbird’s warble is one that attracts attention, and 
you will see him perched on one of the top twigs of the tree, 
from whence he carols his glad notes. He begins his song in 
the middle of summer with the earliest dawn, and continues 
it at intervals throughout the day, even until the twilight 
and his own black plumage begin to fade together into night. 
His first morning ditty is but harsh and unmusical, but when 
the sun advances up towards the horizon, and the red rays 
