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The blackbird was the first to take the alarm from the jay, and away he flew, crying, "Kink, kink, kink," as he started from his nest in a great ivy tod on an old pollard-tree.
Every one stood aghast at these multiplied examples of his superhuman might, and dreaded to displease so omnipotent and vindictive a being; and the Blackbird enjoyed a wide and undisputed sway. It was not, however, by terror alone that he ruled his people; he was a warrior of the first order, and his exploits in arms were the theme of young and old.
"I never knew there was such a thing as a white rabbit in the world," said Rusty the Blackbird. Bumper could not feel other than puffed up by such remarks, but he tried to hide it from his new friends. "Are all the rabbits in the woods brown or gray, then?" he asked. "I should like to see them. Do they live around here?"
MacRae put Vincent Ferrara aboard the Blackbird, himself took over the loaded vessel, and within the hour was clear of Squitty's dusky headlands, pointing a course straight down the middle of the Gulf. His man turned in to sleep. MacRae stood watch alone, listening to the ka-choof, ka-choof of the exhaust, the murmuring swash of calm water cleft by the Bluebird's stem.
MacRae battened his hatch covers, started his engine, heaved up the hook, and hauled out of the bay. In the Gulf the obscuring clouds parted to lay a shaft of silver on smooth, windless sea. The Blackbird wallowed down the moon-trail. MacRae stood at the steering wheel. Beside him Steve Ferrara leaned on the low cabin. "She's getting day," Steve said, after a long silence. He chuckled. "Some raid.
"I've often seen you though," said the Robin; "but what with your two large families, and all the delights and distractions of the summer, you have been a good deal occupied." "I haven't heard you singing," said the Blackbird.
It must be confessed that on this particular evening Willie was in a specially mischievous humour, for, among other tricks, he directed the attention of many small insects to his nurse's gown, where they remained till jerked off in horror by the discomfited Nanny. The Rook and Blackbird watched the party with no small interest and amusement, and then as the shadows lengthened they flew away home.
A similar instance was that of a pet red-winged blackbird, which, instead of whistling the labored "Grook-o-lee" of his species, learned to mimic all kinds of sounds in and out of the house, among them the crowing of the cocks of the barnyard. These two instances would indicate that some birds must at least be associated with their kin in order to learn the songs of their species.
Insects also buzzed about, creating a humming music of their own, while flocks of starlings startled by his approach flew over the field next him to the one further on, exhibiting their speckled plumage as they fluttered overhead, and the whistle of the blackbird and coo of the ring-dove could be heard in the distance. But the vicar was thinking of none of these things.
A sea that would toss the old wrecked Blackbird like a dory and keep her low decks continually awash let the Blanco pass with only a moderate pitch and roll. MacRae worked hard. He found ease in work. When the last salmon was dressed and stowed below, many times under the glow of electric bulbs strung along the cargo boom, he would fall into his bunk and sleep dreamlessly.
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