322 Observations on the 
This long catalogue of birds, most of which, 
it appears, are to be found in this immediate 
neighbourhood, composes the feathered choir, 
that enlivens the’ pastoral scenery of England 
with a rich and varied melody of song which 
probably is not surpassed in any part of the 
known globe. 
The following poetical description of the 
vernal chorus, with which I shall close these 
observations, is from Thomson’s Seasons, 
Spring. 
‘* Up springs the lark, 
Shrill voic’d, and loud, the messenger of morn ; 
Ere yet the shadows fly, he mounted sings 
Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 
Calls up the tuneful nations. Every copse 
Deep-tangled, tree irregular, and bush 
Bending with dewy moisture, o’er the heads 
Of the coy quiristers that lodge within, 
Are prodigal of harmony. The thrush 
And wood-lark, o’er the kind contending throng 
Superior heard, run through the sweetest length 
Of notes; when listening Philomela deigns 
To let them joy, and purposes in thought 
Elate, to make her night excel their day. 
The blackbird whistles from the thorny brake ; 
The mellow bullfinch answers from the grove : 
Nor are the linnets, o’er the flowering furze 
Dictionary.) The former I never saw alive, and, therefore, could have 
no means of estimating its song ; and though I am well acquainted 
with the latter, I have never had an opportunity of hearing its notes. 
