THE SONG-THRUSH. 217 
heard in rapid succession as the day spreads widely around; and finally 
the air seems laden with their joyous notes, now intermingled with the 
charming song of the Robin and Wren, and the rich and flute-like tones 
of the Blackbird, the whole forming a perfect plethora of music—Nature’s 
morning concert, the morning anthem of the woods and fields. Or should 
his morning melody not suit your convenience, pay his haunt a visit as the 
sun nears the western horizon; hear his requiem to the parting day. It 
may not please so much as his morning song; for then there is a 
freshness and a vigour throughout all animated nature that probably gilds 
his performance with a higher charm and lends it an additional sweetness. 
Still its rich modulations, its infinite variety, and its soothing strains 
will give unspeakable delight, should the love, the poetry of nature be at 
all prominent in the soul. Listen, then, to its sweetness till the evening 
has wrapped the woods in gloom, or the night mist creeps round the moun- 
tains, hiding the speckled songster from your view ; for he will warble so long 
as the last streaks of day are visible. But darkness does not always stay 
his music; and in the hours of midnight, notably near the summer solstice, 
when the dawn is spreading almost as soon as the twilight leaves the western 
sky, he will sit and warble too. There is no monotony in the notes of the 
Song-Thrush ; they are for ever on the change; and when the birds are 
numerous and full of song, the effect produced is indeed a grand one, and 
far beyond the art of the most graphic pen to describe.” 
The Song-Thrush delights to sing when the soft summer showers are 
falling. He will perch among the branches under the broad leaves, or 
sometimes under a projecting rock, and there warble for hours. He has 
also been known to sing most vigorously during severe thunderstorms. 
The Song-Thrush is a remarkably tame and confiding bird. It is their 
music which make him and the Sky-Lark so prominent. At most times of 
the year he is a skulking bird; but as soon as the first signs of the coming 
spring warn him to chose a mate, he forgets his life of seclusion. Perch- 
ing on the topmost branches of trees and shrubs, even on walls and 
other exposed situations, he then fills the air with his rich and powerful 
notes—notes so indescribably beautiful, so varied, and continued for such 
length of time, as to irresistibly arrest the attention and win the warmest 
admiration. A peculiarity in the song of this bird, which distinguishes 
it from the songs of other Thrushes, is that it constantly repeats itself. 
No sooner has it uttered three or four notes, than, apparently pleased with 
the combination, it instantly repeats them. Then it tries another quite 
different combination, which it as constantly repeats. The song has not 
the rich full melody of that of the Blackbird; but it is infinitely more 
varied and generally more prolonged. The call and alarm notes of the 
Song-Thrush are somewhat varied. Its call-note is a peculiar low cry, 
something like a Redwing’s; its note when alarmed is a harsh guttural 
cry, more like a low scream than any thing else; and its alarm-notes when 
