Turdus merula, LINNÆUS; Le Merle, BUFFON; Die Schwarzdrossel,
BECHSTEIN.
This species, the most docile of its genus, is nine inches and a half
long, four of which belong to the tail. The beak is an inch long, and
orange yellow; the iris is dark brown; the shanks are an inch high, and
black. The whole plumage is of a pure velvety black; the eyelids alone
are orange.
The female is of a brownish black, with the breast of a reddish hue, and
the belly grayish; the throat is spotted with dark and light brown. It
is also rather larger than the male, which has led some persons who were
not well acquainted with it to make another species of it.
The white variety is very well known; there is besides the streaked, the
black with a white head, and the pearl gray.
[Illustration: CATO'S BLACKBIRD'S CAGE]
HABITATION.--When wild the blackbird is found all over the old world,
as well as in Germany; it is the only species of its genus which does
not migrate thence.
In confinement it is kept in a large cage; it is better to keep it
separate because, whether from spite or jealousy, it is often
inclined, like the tits, to pursue and kill its little companions of
the aviary or room.
FOOD.--When wild the blackbird eats berries, and, in winter, when
insects are scarce, he seeks them near warm springs.
In confinement he is satisfied with the first universal paste, but he
also eats bread, meat, and anything which comes to table, such as a
bit of apple. More delicate than the song thrush, he would not
digest mere bran and water. He delights in bathing often, and should
therefore be furnished with the means for so doing.
BREEDING.--As the blackbird does not travel he pairs early in the
spring, and the first young are hatched by the end of March. The
nest, placed in a thick bush, or in a heap of boughs, is formed on
the outside of stalks, then of moss and mud and lined in the inside
with fine hay, hair, and wool. The female lays three times a year,
from four to six eggs, of a greenish gray, spotted and streaked with
light brown; when the young are hatched the males are always darker
than the females, therefore bird-catchers can never be mistaken when
they take the former and leave the latter. They are easily reared on
white bread soaked in boiled milk, a little raw beef, and worms
dipped in water. It is better to take them from the nest when the
quills of the feathers are just beginning to develop, because, having
then no idea of their natural song, they will retain more perfectly
and distinctly the airs which may be taught them.
DISEASES.--An obstruction in the rump gland is their most common
disorder, and must be treated in the manner described in the
Introduction. It would doubtless be prevented by never omitting to
furnish the means of bathing. With care, and a proper variety of
food, this bird will live in confinement ten or twelve years.
METHOD OF CATCHING.--Timid and distrustful, the blackbird seldom
enters the area or barn-floor trap, but it is easily caught in the
winter with a noose or springe, by using service berries for a bait.
It sometimes falls into the large traps set for tits, when the
berries are spread over the bottom; limed twigs put with the berries
in a place cleared from the snow, will catch many also; it also goes
to the water-trap, but generally at night-fall. Its call is
"_tsizirr, tak, tak_."
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--The natural song of the blackbird is not
destitute of melody; but it is broken by noisy tones, and is
agreeable only in the open country. When wild it sings only from
March to July; but when caged, during the whole year, except when
moulting. Its voice is so strong and clear, that in a city it may be
heard from one end of a long street to the other. Its memory is so
good, that it retains, without mixing them, several airs at once, and
it will even repeat little sentences. It is a great favourite with
the lovers of a plaintive, clear, and musical song, and may, in these
respects, be preferred to the bullfinch, whose voice is softer, more
flute-like, but also more melancholy. The price of these two birds,
if well taught, is about the same.