not so numerous as the Thrush; but the great improvements near Stornoway will no doubt attract
the species more in future, and it may therefore be expected to increase. . On Harris it is likewise
resident, and also on North Uist, but in very limited numbers; while on Benbecula it is wholly
absent in summer, being only a winter visitant. On Iona and Mull it is a winter bird only ; but on
some of the other inner islands it is resident. I have found several pairs of Blackbirds on Ailsa
Craig; one of these had their nest in a turret-hole of the old castle ruins, nearly halfway towards
the summit of the island. I remember, one very hot day in July, hearing a Blackbird sing in a cave
there ; it had penetrated to the inmost recesses of this dark abode, which must have been a familiar
haunt, as on going in to ascertain its extent, I found the bird was able to steer directly out of it,
without flitting with side jerks, until it regained the entrance. In some districts of Scotland
Blackbirds have of late years multiplied to a great extent; the island of Arran, for example, since
the destruction of birds of prey there, has been completely overrun with them. After the breeding-
season is over, these birds, in Ayrshire, repair in great numbers to the sea-coast between Girvan and
Ballantrae, seeking shelter in hot days under blocks of stone and large flat rocks lying on the
beach. On one occasion I turned out eighteen Blackbirds from under a flat rock, resting on
broken stones, by poking them with a walking-stick. I have seen Sparrow-Hawks and Merlins
(apparently aware of this habit) hunting these rocks at midday, where the Blackbirds were
all concealed, but pertinaciously beating about in the neighbourhood, knowing their quarry to
be there, though unable in the meantime to dislodge it.” In Ireland Mr. R. J. UssKer says that
it breeds commonly in every county, but more sparingly in the extreme west, as at Valencia, Achill,
the Mullet, and Western Donegal, where is is-chiefly known as a winter visitor (Proc. R. Irish Acad.
(8) iii. p. 402). In Norway, according to the note given by Professor Collett in Dresser’s ‘ Birds
of Europe,’ the species is distributed I over the whole of Norway up to the Polar Circle; and the
Messrs. Godman found it nesting at Bodo above 67°. In the province of Trondhjem it breeds
tolerably numerously, both on the larger islands, such as Hitteren, and in the interior. I t is
particularly abundant in the coast-districts of Christiansund and Bergen, but is scarcer in the eastern
dales, as, for instance, Gudbrandsdal, Valders, and (Esterdal. On the fell-sides it is no longer found
in the subalpine region. Individuals passing the winter with us may be seen annually on the coast
up to Trondhjemsfiord.”
In Sweden, according to Nilsson, it is a rare species in the north, but is found in the south at
all seasons of the year, and in Sk&ne it is even more plentiful in the winter than in the summer.
The same author, states that the Blackbird was found by Lovenhjelm in Lyksele in Lapland, at the
foot of the Issjak Fjeld • but neither Wheelwright nor Sommerfeldt met with it in that country, nor
is it mentioned by Dr. Pleske in his work on the Birds of the Kola Peninsula. Von Wright states
that it breeds very sparingly in Southern Finland, and he found families of these birds at Drumso
near Helsingfors, and on an island near Borgl, but Mr. Dresser never saw a Blackbird in that
country.
In Denmark it is said by Mr. Benyon to be the commonest of the Thrushes that breed in that
country; it is in some districts, more plentiful than Turdus musicus, but is not so generally distributed,
most of the old birds migrating in winter:
The young birds first arrive in Heligoland in the autumn migration in October, and the species
visits the island till the middle of November, though some of the old ones, driven by want of
food from the north, are found up to the end of December. In the spring they return in March,
the old males being the first to arrive, followed a week or two later by the females and the young
birds of last season, and the migration lasts up to the middle of April (Gatke, ‘ Heligoland,’ Engl,
ed, p. 253).
In Germany the Blackbird is a resident, but in Eastern Prussia it is not at all common,
according to Mr. Hartert (Ibis, 1892, p. 358). In Poland, Taczanowski records it as a common bird ;
but in Russia it does not extend far north, and is unknown in the vicinity of St. Petersburg (Sclater,
Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, vii. p. xviii).
The Blackbird is found all over France, and in Spain it is, according to Mr. Howard Saunders,
an abundant resident. Colonel Irby (Orn. Gibr. p. 35) says that it is very common in Andalucia,
and nests near Gibraltar, its numbers being largely increased in winter by the arrival of migrants.
In Portugal it is also abundant (Tait, Ibis, 1887, p. 85). In the Pyrenees it is resident, according
to Mr. Howard Saunders, but its numbers are greatly augmented during the migration season
(Ibis, 1884, p. 369). Colonel Irby found it plentiful near Santander (Ibis, 1883, p. 180), and
Mr. H. M. Wallis states that in the Central Pyrenees he noticed it at Eaux-Bonnes, and as far
up the Gave-de-Pau as St. Sauveur ; at Argelès it was nesting (Ibis, 1895, p. 64). Mr. Eagle Clarke
says that he did not observe it within the Delta of the Rhone, where it was apparently an
uncommon bird, but he noticed a single pair near the east bank of the Grand Rhône (Ibis, 1895,
p. 187).
Throughout Switzerland the Blackbird is common, and it is resident in Italy, where its numbers
are increased by the influx of migrants. Here a form occurs with a remarkable rufous female, the
Merula montana of Savi, which, according to Count Salvadori, is not uncommon in the Maremma of
Tuscany. Mr. John Whitehead (Ibis, 1885, p. 37) says that it is very common in Corsica during
the winter, a few remaining to breed. He found nests with the full complement of eggs after the
middle of May.
In Austria and Hungary it is a resident species (Frivaldsky, Av. Hung. p. 50), as also in
Bosnia (Reiser, Vogels. Mus. Sarajevo, p. 65) and Croatia (Brusina, Motr. p. 48). Mr. Reiser (Orn.
Bale. ii. p. 49) says that it is found all over Bulgaria and nests, but it is more plentiful in some
districts than others, and numbers are occasionally noticed during the autumn migration. In
Montenegro it is also universally distributed, but in summer it affects the more alpine districts,
along with Merula alpestris (Reiser and Führer, Orn. Bale. iv. p. 54).
The Blackbird is resident in Greece, according to Lindermayer. Lord Lilford found a few
breeding in Epirus, but it was not very plentiful there. In Southern Russia Von Nordmann states
that it is sedentary and breeds, and Pallas records it as common in the Crimea. I t is a summer
visitor to the Government of Kharkow, according to Prof. Somow (Faun. Orn. Kharkow, p. 157),
being a migrant in spring and autumn, and occasionally remaining in the winter. Specimens from
Voronesch are in the Seebohm Collection, received from Prof. Menzbier. These examples show a
certain similarity to M. intermedia of Central Asia.
According to Sabanaeff the common Blackbird does not extend its range to the east of the Ural
Mountains, and in Astrakhan Mr. Henke says that it is principally seen on migration and is found
very rarely in the winter season (Seebohm, Ibis, 1882, p. 215). In the Caucasus the species is
resident, and ranges as high as 7000 feet, as stated by Dr. Radde (Orn. Cauc. pp. 35, 272), who has
specimens from Tiflis, Lenkoran, and Borohom. In Persia Dr. W. T. Blanford states' that he found
the species common in Mazandaran and Ghilân, and it was breeding in the better wooded valleys
round Shiraz (East. Persia, ii. p. 157). Mr. W . D. Cumming has also met with it near Fao in January
; a*Pe> kis, 1891, p. 109). At Trebizond Messrs. Dickson and Ross record this species as common
m winter, and Mr. C. G. Danford procured a specimen at Zebil Taurus, in Asia Minor, on th.e 2nd of
ebruary, 1876. To Cyprus the Blackbird is a winter visitant (Lilford, Ibis, 1889, p. 314).
n Palestine it breeds, according to Canon Tristram; and a female bird procured by him, and
now m the British Museum, is of grey plumage and resembles the hen of M. intermedia. Another
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