PASSERES. ( 1 ) TURDIDyE. 



THE SONG THEUSH. 



THRUSH, COMMON THRUSH, GARDEN THRUSH, WOOD THRUSH, 

 THROSTLE, MAVIS. 



Turdus musicus. 



Withiti a thick a7id spreading hazvthorn busk, 

 That overhujig a molehill large and rotmd, 

 I heard from tnor7i to morn a merjy Thrush 

 Sing hymns to sunrise, a?id I drank the sound 

 With joy ; and, often an iiitruding guest, 

 I -watched her secret toils from day to day, — 

 How true she warped the moss to form a Jiest, 

 And modelled it withift with wood and clay ; 

 And by a7id by, like heathbclls gilt with dew, 

 There lay her shining eggs, as bright a<: floivers , 

 Ink-spotted-over shells of greeny blue ; 

 And there I witnessed in the sunny hours, 

 A brood of nature's minstrels chirp and fly. 

 Glad as that sunshine and the laughing sky. 



Clare, The Thrush's Nest. 



The delightful song of this favourite bird is associated with 

 the return of spring in all its gladsomeness, with its wealth 

 of wild-flowers, and trees bursting into leaf; for, in that joyful 

 season, the " Throstle with his note so true " welcomes the 

 morning,^ and — 



The Mavis wild, wi' niauy a note, 

 Sings drowsy day to rest. 



1 An ancient song, quoted by Gawin Douglas and Dunbar, ami whieli 

 apparently must have been known belore 1500, begins : — 



" Hay, now the day (lawis, The Thissell Cok cryis 



The Jolie Cok crawis, On lovers wha lyis. 



Now shrouds the shawis, Now skaillis the skyis, 



Tlirou natur anone ; The nicht is near gone." 



Leyden's Notes to The Cmnplaynt of Scotland. 



VOL. L A 



