204 
BLACKBIRD. 
of ‘Fair Aurora’ gild the sky, he hails the glorious sight with 
a louder and more joyous strain. In dull and cloudy and 
ungenial weather he is much later in commencing, and is, on 
the other hand, heard to the greatest advantage when some 
refreshing summer rain falls upon the thirsty earth, even 
though the thunder should utterly for the moment drown 
his voice, and while the lightning flashes its most vivid 
gleams. On the approach of danger the Blackbird utters, as 
do several other birds, a peculiar note, which, as indicative 
of alarm, is at once noticed by even an ordinary observer. 
In connexion with this subject may here he mentioned a 
curious occurrence related by Mr. Couch. A weasel, followed 
by its young ones in training, was seen in eager pursuit 
of a Blackbird on the wing, and though a very slight 
elevation in the direction of the flight of the bird would 
have carried it over a hedge and out of danger, yet so great 
was its terror, that it was unable to mount so high, and 
consequently soon became their prey. 
This species pairs in February or March, but occasionally 
much earlier. Thus in the ‘Yorkshire Gazette’ of the 8th. 
of this present January, 1853, it is recorded that a nest with 
two eggs was found at Brompton, in this county, on the 
3rd. instant, by D. Ferguson, Esq., of Bedcar. 
The nest is placed in a variety of situations, and is fre¬ 
quently found in a heap of sticks, even though placed in an 
outhouse, or most commonly in a bush; sometimes in a tree 
against a wall, or in a tree or wall covered with ivy; an 
instance has been known of its being placed on the stump 
of a tree, close to the ground, and Sir William Jardine found 
one on the ground, at the foot of a tree; another was also 
found in a similar situation, at the foot of a hazel bush, in 
a wood, by my friend the Bev. W. Waldo Cooper, of West 
Basen, Lincolnshire: in the same wood he found another on 
the stump of a hazel which had been cut down, and from 
which several stems had grown; it was not raised an inch 
from the ground, but was quite surrounded by the new 
branches. Another found on the ground has been recorded 
in the ‘Zoologist,’ page 1023, by W. W. Spicer, Esq. Mr. 
John H. Blundell, of Luton, Bedfordshire, has written me 
word of his having found the nest in one instance on the 
ground, in the middle of a large plantation of oaks. It is 
often placed in a hedge, and is commonly built at a height 
of three or four feet, also in a hole in a wall or rock. In 
