THE VILLAGE THRUSH 79 



song. Birds are like human singers, 

 their songs vary to a very great degree, 

 and you will usually find that birds which 

 live near the sea, or on the hills, where 

 the air is pure, have far finer and 

 stronger songs than those of the woods 

 and meadows far inland. This Thrush 

 must have loved his village, for right 

 through the spring and summer he sang 

 throughout the whole day. 



The village, a real old English village, 

 stood amongst beautiful surroundings, 

 and the Thrush as he sang looked down 

 upon a maze of green meadows, three 

 lakes, and woodland. Imagine you are 

 standing on a bank dividing two of the 

 lakes. The one on the right is bordered 

 part of the way round by a thick mass 

 of trees ; elms on the far outside, then 

 big elders and may bushes, and nearest 

 the water's edge drooping willows, sloping 

 down to the reeds which grow for several 

 yards out into the water. This reed 



