78 BIKDS OF NOEFOLK. 



TURDUS MUSICUS, Linn^us. 



SONG-THEUSH. 



The Song-Tkrusli or Mavis, as it is more commonly 

 called in this county, is plentiful enough, and in the 

 spring and summer months its sweet notes fill our 

 gardens and groves with the choicest melody. How ex- 

 quisite are the rich thrillrag tones of this bird, as in the 

 light spring evenings he sings longest and latest, till at 

 times the varied beauties of his strain, induce some won- 

 dering listeners to believe that the nightingale is come 

 already. There is no author who has written more truth- 

 fully or more charmingly of our familiar British species 

 than Macgillivray, and amongst many passages in his 

 '^British Birds," unrivalled for the minuteness and 

 accuracy of their details, is his sketch of the habits of 

 the song-thrush, as studied by himself amidst the wild 

 scenery of the Hebrides. " Listen (he says) to the clear 

 loud notes of that speckled warbler, that in the softened 

 sunshine pours forth his wild melodies on the gladdened 

 ear. * * -J?- Listen again, and say what it does 

 resemble — 



" Dear, dear, dear, 



Is the rocky gleu ; 

 Far away, far away, far away, 



The haunts of men. 

 Here shall we dwell in love 

 With the lark and the dove, 

 Cuckoo and corn rail ; 

 Feast on the banded snail, 



Worm, and gilded fly ; 

 Drink of the crystal rill, 

 Winding adown the hill, 



Never to dry. 



