BLACKBIRD

originally, the name of a distinct variety of birds, but in this country freely applied in many sections to several birds widely different in family but alike in their black plumage. The only kind that can legally be sold as a game bird is that known as the "Crow Blackbird," which is considered excellent by many lovers of bird meat. Blackbirds were at one time highly esteemed as a food delicacy in England--an historical item that has been perpetuated in the nursery rhyme concerning the "pie" containing "four and twenty blackbirds" which was "set before the king!"