88 TURD US MERULA. 



exhibited at all seasons, at the period of breeding and in the 

 middle of winter, and by very many birds of the species, that 

 the male, on perching, whether on a tree or on the ground, 

 but especially on the former, raises his tail, flutters, it might 

 almost be said, flaps his wings, emits his chuckling cry, and 

 continues balancing himself, or hops along, repeating the notes, 

 which, should he be alarmed, or in anyway excited, are some- 

 times raised and prolonged so that a person fond of tracing affi- 

 nities and analogies, might naturally enough liken it to the 

 crowing of a cock. Now, were we to adopt the mode of rea- 

 soning followed by some writers, what could appear more evi- 

 dent than that the Thrushes are analogous among the Inses- 

 sores to the Cocks among the Rasores. The Cocks are arborial 

 and terrestrial, so are the Thrushes ; they perch or roost at 

 night, so do the latter ; they crow, so does the Blackbird in a 

 way ; they have a thick covering of feathers on the rump, so 

 have the Thrushes ; they afford very delectable food, so in 

 truth do the Blackbird and all his family. Indeed the analogy 

 is much more clearly made out than three-fourths of Mr Swain- 

 son's ; and as to the discrepancies, all objects differ more or 

 less from each other. To end all this however let us listen to 

 another cry of the Blackbird, which resembles the syllable 

 chink^ several times repeated, and which the male very fre- 

 quently utters. The female, on the other hand, is always 

 remarkably quiet, and in this respect might be recommended 

 as a model to many females of the Homo nosce-teipsum species, 

 although there can be no reason for denying them a moderate 

 degree of loquacity. How delightful it would be to listen to 

 an exposition of the quinary and circular system from the ruby 

 lips of a lady ornithologist ! Indeed if it had been invented 

 by one, I feel assured that I should long ago have become a 

 convert to it ; but the pugnative propensity, or whatever else 

 the phrenognomists call the spirit of counteraction, has hither- 

 to prevented me from being deceived by it. 



Few persons seek an opportunity of hearing the song of the 

 Blackbird in the early morning before the first rays of the sun 

 shoot across the eastern sky ; but many listen to it with de- 

 light in the quiet evenings of spring and summer, when the 



