THE SONG THRUSH. 147 



produced on a flute : the notes are difficult of description. 

 Mr. Nuttall, who was particularly happy in his descriptions 

 of bird-songs, speaks of this as follows : 



" The prelude to this song resembles almost the double-tonguing 

 of the flute, blended with a tinkling, shrill, and solemn warble, 

 which re-echoes from his solitary retreat like the dirge of some sad 

 recluse, who shuns the busy haunts of life. The whole air consists 

 usually of four parts, or bars, which succeed, in deliberate time, 

 and finally blend together in impressive and soothing harmony, 

 becoming more mellow and sweet at every repetition. Rival per- 

 formers seem to challenge each other from various parts of the 

 wood, vying for the favor of their mates with sympathetic respon- 

 ses and softer tones. And some, waging a jealous strife, terminate 

 the warm dispute by an appeal to combat and violence. Like the 

 Robin and the Thrasher, in dark and gloomy weather, when other 

 birds are sheltered and silent, the clear notes of the Wood Thrush 

 are heard through the dropping woods, from dawn to dusk ; so that, 

 the sadder the day, the sweeter and more constant is his song. His 

 clear and interrupted whistle is likewise often nearly the only voice 

 of melody heard by the traveller, to mid-day, in the heat of sum- 

 mer, as he traverses the silent, dark, and wooded wilderness, remote 

 from the haunts of men. It is nearly impossible by words to con- 

 vey any idea of the peculiar warble of this vocal hermit; but, 

 amongst his phrases, the sound of 'airoee, peculiarly liquid, and 

 followed by a trill, repeated in two separate bars, is readily recog- 

 nizable. At times, their notes bear a considerable resemblance to 

 those of Wilson's Thrush : such as eh rhehu 'vrhehu, then varied 

 to 'eh villia villia^ 'eh villia vrhehu, then 'eh vein villu, high and 

 shrill." 



About the 20th of May, the Song Thrush builds its nest. 

 This is placed usually in a low alder or birch shrub, in a 

 retired locality, almost always in the deep woods. It is 

 composed outwardly of grass, leaves, and weeds, bent and 

 twined together. In this is built a nest composed of mud 

 and grass, and the whole is lined with fibrous roots and soft 

 grass and moss. It is placed on a low branch of a tree, or 

 in the branches of a shrub. I give Wilson's description of 



