XOTES OK SPRTN'O FI.OWKRS, KTC. 22.1 



the Redbreast too has forsaken the habitations of man, and returned again 

 to its old haunts, to welcome the approach of spring. How cheering is the 

 rich sweet whistle of the Song Thrush, (Turdus musicus,) ".with his note so 

 true;" and the loud, mellow song of the Blackbird, {Turdus mertda,) which 

 is said to be sweeter during the continuance of a spring shower than at any 

 other time; of which Christopher North writes so eloquently, "There he flits 

 along upon a strong wing, with his yellow bill visible in distance, and disappears 

 in the silent wood: not long silent. It is a spring day in our imagination; 

 his clay-wall nest holds his mate at the foot of the Silver-fir, and he is now 

 perched on its pinnacle. That thrilling hymn will go vibrating down the stem 

 till it reaches her brooding breast. The whole vernal air is filled with the 

 murmur and the glitter of insects; but the Blackbird's song is over all other 

 symptoms of love and life, and seems to call upon the leaves to unfold into 

 happiness." 



By the end of March young broods of the Thrush and the Blackbird may be 

 found. The nest of the former is generally placed in a thick hedge or tall 

 bush, formed externally of twigs, moss, and frequently grass, closely inter- 

 woven; the inside is composed of cowdung and decayed wood, cemented by a 

 saliva. I have frequently seen clay used for the interior of the nest, although 

 it is doubted by Mr. Rennie. The eggs are generally four, oftentimes five in 

 number; light blue, with a few small black spots at the large end. Keats 

 speaks of 



"Yonder Thrush 

 Schooling its half-fledged little ones to brush 

 About the dewy forest." 



And again of her song, — 



"Close my happy eyes 

 Amid the Thrush's song " 



The nest of the Blackbird may be found in a thick bush, and is composed 

 externally of twigs, fibrous roots, and grass or n}oss, lined on the inside with 

 mud and dry grass; the eggs are four or five in number, bluish green, with 

 reddish brown dottings. I took last spring, from the nest of this bird, two 

 eggs, one of the general length — about one inch and two lines by ten lines 

 in breadth, but quite sharp at one end; the other was much shorter and 

 broader, and quite round at each end, more resembling that of a Bantam. 

 This bird is very easily alarmed, and utters a sharp chattering cry as it flies. 

 Walter Scott bears testimony to its sweet song — 



"How blithe the Blackbird's lay." 



Marmiox. 



Early in February the Dandelion, [Leontodon taraxacum,) may be found 

 m flower, taking its generic name from Leon — a lion, and odous — a tooth, 

 from the tooth-like margin of its leaves. The root is valuable on account of 

 its medicinal properties; and everywhere in the hedges and woods, and grassy 

 banks, the Primrose blossoms {Primula vulgaris,) appear. It is too well 

 known to need description; the flowers grow on long stalks, which are joined 



