Blackbird,

Blackbird, or MERLE (Turdus merula or Merula vulgaris), a well-known species of Thrush (q.v.), common in all parts of Britain, and throughout Europe generally; found also in the north of Africa, and in the Azores. In Asia, it gives place to a closely allied species, Turdus pæcilopterus. In size, the blackbird is intermediate between the evergreens or shrubs; and when disturbed, takes wing with a vociferous chattering of alarm, seeking refuge in some neighbouring thicket. Its food consists of worms, snails, insects, berries, seeds, &c. Its fondness for fruit makes it often annoying to the gardener; but probably it would in general be better to protect cherries and pears by nets than to shoot the bird, which is of great use as a destroyer of insect larvæ. Like some of the other thrushes, it also devours (especially in winter) great numbers of small snails, dexterously breaking the shell against a stone. When searching for food, it jumps about with characteristic alacrity; when disturbed, it flies off with a somewhat magpie-like chuckle; its familiar flight along the hedges is 'wavering and fitful,' and in the breeding-season the female especially moves by a succession of starts. It is not usually a gregarious bird, although great flocks sometimes appear upon the British coasts in winter, on their passage from more northerly to more southerly countries. Otherwise, the blackbird is not in Britain a bird of passage. It pairs very early in spring; the male and female are indeed very often seen together during winter; it builds its nest early, and generally has two broods in the year. The nest is usually placed in some thick bush; it is of ruder workmanship than that of the song-thrush, which, however, it resembles, and is usually formed of strong stems of grass, with a finer lining of dry grass inside, and a massive plastering of clay outside. The inside and outside of the nest are kept very clean, and a male has been seen to remove the dropping of a young bird from the vicinity of the nest. The male aids in the work of feeding the young. The eggs are four or five in number, of a pale blue colour, generally speckled with brown. A female blackbird and a male thrush have been known to pair. The voice of the blackbird is very powerful, and its song more mellow than that of the thrush, but with 'much less variety, compass, or execution.' The blackbird is often kept as a cage-bird, and would be much more frequently so, but for the too great loudness of its song; it is readily trained, exhibits considerable powers of imitation, and has even been taught to articulate.—The Ring Ouzel (q.v.), sometimes called the Ring Blackbird, is a nearly related species (T. torquatus).—The Crow, the Redwing, and other blackbirds of America are entirely different.—The Savanna Blackbird of the West Indies is also of a different family. See CROTOPHAGA.