Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/695

 BLAOKALL BLACKBIRD 675 cessful. His only publications were three dis- sertations, giving an account of his experiments on magnesia, quicklime, and other alkaline substances ; his observations on the more ready freezing of water that has been boiled ; and his analysis of some boiling springs in Iceland. BLACKALL, Offspring, an English prelate, born in London in 1654, died in Exeter in 1716. For two years after the coronation of William III. he refused to take the oath of allegiance, but finally yielded. In 1699 he engaged in a controversy with Toland, who had denied in his " Life of Milton " that Charles I. was the author of the "Icon Basilike," and expressed doubts of the genuineness of the Scriptures. Blackall was consecrated bishop of Exeter in 1707. His works, in 2 vols. folio, were pub- lished in 1723. BLACKBERRY. See BRAMBLE. BLACKBIRD, a N". E. county of Nebraska, separated from Iowa on the E. by the Mis- souri river, and watered by Blackbird, Middle, and Omaha creeks; pop. in 1870, 31. BLACKBIRD. I. A European species of the thrush family (turdus merula, Linn.), called Blackbird (Turdua merula). also merle in France and some parts of England. The plumage is full, soft, and glossy; the length in the male is 10J inches, and the ex- tent of wings 16 inches; the length in the fe- male is 10 inches, and the extent of wings 15 inches. In the adult male the bill is five sixths of an inch long, and of a bright orange color, as are the mouth, tongue, and mar- gins of the lids, the iris hazel, the feet and claws dusky brown, the heel and soles yellow ; the general color of the plumage is deep black, sometimes slightly tinged with brown; the primaries are lighter, and obscurely edged with brown ; the central part of the hidden portion of each feather is light gray. In the female, the bill is dark brown; the general color of the plumage is deep brown above, lighter beneath; the throat and fore neck pale brown, streaked with darker triangular spots. The young are dusky brown above, with dull yellowish streaks ; pale yellowish brown, spot- ted with dusky, beneath. Albino specimens are occasionally seen. The blackbird is an admira- ble singer, its notes, though simple, being loud, rich, and mellow, most frequently heard in the morning and evening. It prefers cultivated dis- tricts, in winter frequenting the neighbprhood of houses, and keeping in the shelter of the gar- den hedges. Its food consists of snails, seeds of grasses and grain, insects, larv, worms, berries of various kinds, and also fruits. It is a very shy and active bird, hopping on the ground with tail raised and wings loose; its flight along the hedges is fitful and wavering, but in an open field very steady and sustained. It is not gregarious, more than three or four being seldom seen together. The blackbird pairs in early spring, making a nest externally of grass stalks, twigs, fibrous roots, and moss- es, the inside being lined with mud and af- terward with dry grass; the nest is usually placed in a hedge, bramble thicket, or bushy pine. The eggs are from four to six in number, of a pale bluish green, spotted with pale um- ber. The female sits 13 days, the male singing till the young are hatched; two broods are commonly reared, one in May, the second in July. The flesh is excellent for food. The blackbird is often kept in cages, where its song is as joyous as in its native haunts ; it is a troublesome species in an aviary, as it pur- sues and harasses other birds ; in confinement it will eat crumbs and raw or cooked flesh. II. A bird more commonly called in New Eng- land red-winged blackbird, and belonging to the family of sturnidce (agelaius phasnicetts, Linn.). The bill is straight, strong, conical, and black ; the hind toe and claw the strong- er. The plumage of the adult male is glossy black, except the smaller wing coverts, the first row of which are cream-colored, the rest scar- let ; the length is 9 inches, extent of wings 14 inches. The female is nearly 2 inches less; Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phicnlceus). the upper part black, the feathers with a pale brown margin, underneath streaked with black and dull white ; a band of pale brown over the