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. THE RING BLACKBIRD.